MxMIndia

Tag: ZEEL

  • As per the arrangement, Punit Goenka to continue as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the merged entity

    Hum Saath Saath Hain. Zee & Sony express interest to merge. Punit Goenka to be Big Boss of combined entity

    By Our Staff

    The Board of Directors of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) held a meeting on September 21, 2021 and unanimously provided an in-principle approval for the merger between Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) & ZEEL.

    Here’s the press release issued to MxMIndia and the stock exchanges:

    The Board has evaluated not only on financial parameters, but also on the strategic value which the partner brings to the table. The Board concluded that the merger will be in the best interest of all the shareholders & stakeholders. The merger is in line with ZEEL’s strategy of achieving higher growth and profitability as a leading Media & Entertainment Company across South Asia. The Board has authorized the management of ZEEL to activate the required due diligence process.

    The shareholders of SPNI, will hold a majority stake in the merged entity. The shareholders of SPNI will also infuse growth capital into SPNI as part of the merger such that SPNI has approximately USD 1.575 billion at closing, for use in pursuing other growth opportunities.

    Basis the existing estimated equity values of ZEEL and SPNI, the indicative merger ratio would have been 61.25% in favour of ZEEL. However, with the proposed infusion of growth capital into SPNI, the resultant merger ratio is expected to result in 47.07% of the merged entity to be held by ZEEL shareholders and the balance 52.93% of the merged entity to be held by SPNI shareholders.

    ZEEL and SPNI have entered into a non-binding term sheet to combine both companies’ linear networks, digital assets, production operations and program libraries. The term sheet provides an exclusive period of 90 days during which ZEEL and SPNI will conduct mutual diligence and finalize definitive agreement(s). The merged entity will be a publicly listed company in India.

    As part of the transaction, Mr. Punit Goenka will continue to be the Managing Director and CEO of the merged entity. Further, certain non-compete arrangements will be agreed upon between the promoters of ZEEL and the promoters of SPNI. According to the term sheet, the promoter family is free to increase its shareholding from the current ~4% to up to 20%, in a manner that is in accordance with applicable law. Majority of the Board of Directors of the merged entity will be nominated by Sony Group.

    It is anticipated that the final transaction would be subject to completion of customary due diligence and execution of definitive agreements and required corporate, regulatory and third- party approvals, including the votes of ZEEL’s shareholders.

    ZEEL’s strong expertise in content creation and its deep consumer connect established over the last 3 decades, coupled with SPNI’s success across entertainment genres (including gaming and sports) will add significant value to the merged entity and its management team, thereby increasing shareholder value multifold.

    Speaking on the development, Mr. R. Gopalan, Chairman, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. said, “The Board of Directors at ZEEL have conducted a strategic review of the merger proposal between SPNI and ZEEL. As a Board that encompasses a blend of highly accomplished professionals having rich expertise across varied sectors, we always keep in mind the best interests of all the shareholders and ZEEL. We have unanimously provided an in-principle approval to the proposal and have advised the management to initiate the due diligence process.

    ZEEL continues to chart a strong growth trajectory and the Board firmly believes that this merger will further benefit ZEEL. The value of the merged entity and the immense synergies drawn between both the conglomerates will not only boost business growth but will also enable shareholders to benefit from its future successes. As per legal and regulatory guidelines, at the required stage, the proposal will be presented to the esteemed shareholders of ZEEL for their approval.”

    Under the guidance of the Board, the management of ZEEL, ably led by Mr. Punit Goenka, continues to steadily work towards achieving higher profitability in line with its set goals for the future. With this corporate development, the merged entity will result into an accelerated growth and a significant opportunity to create tremendous value for all its stakeholders.

     

    Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Network has issued a communique:

     

    Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) today announced that they have entered into an exclusive, non-binding Term Sheet to combine both companies’ linear networks, digital assets, production operations and program libraries.  The non-binding Term Sheet provides an exclusive negotiation period of 90 days during which ZEEL and SPNI will conduct mutual diligence and negotiate definitive, binding agreements. The combined company would be a publicly listed company in India and be better positioned to lead the consumer transition from traditional pay TV into the digital future.

    The merger of ZEEL and SPNI would bring together two leading Indian media network businesses, benefitting consumers throughout India across content genres, from film to sports. The combined company is expected to benefit all stakeholders given strong synergies between ZEEL and SPNI.

    Under the terms of the non-binding Term Sheet, Sony Pictures Entertainment, the parent company of SPNI, would invest growth capital so that SPNI has a cash balance of approximately USD $1.575 billion at closing for use to enhance the combined company’s digital platforms across technology and content, ability to bid for broadcasting rights in the fast-growing sports landscape and pursue other growth opportunities. Sony Pictures Entertainment would hold a majority stake in the combined company. Current ZEEL Managing Director & CEO Punit Goenka is to lead the combined company. The combined company’s board of directors would include directors nominated by Sony Group and result in Sony Group having the right to nominate the majority of the board members.

    It is anticipated that a final transaction would be subject to completion of customary due diligence, negotiation, and execution of definitive binding agreements, and required corporate, regulatory and third-party approvals, including ZEEL shareholder vote.

  • Zee5 will exclusively stream new TVF originals and subsequent seasons of iconic shows like Pitchers, Tripling, Humorously Yours, amongst others

    Zee5 partners TVF

    By Our Staff

     

    OTT platform Zee5 has inked a content partnership with leading content creator TVF (The Viral Fever). The partnership includes the launch of originals and subsequently, new seasons of iconic TVF shows on its SVOD platform, along with popular cult favourites that will be accessible to all, on its AVOD platform.

     

    With this, Zee5 will have shows such as Pitchers Season 2, Tripling Season 3, Humorously Yours Season 3, and other titles like Engineering Girls Season 2 and The Aam Aadmi Family Season 4. In addition to the existing seasons of the said shows above, older titles like Permanent Roommates, Tech Conversations with Dad, Awkward Conversations, PA-Gals, Inmates, Weekends, The Insiders, Zeroes will also be accessible on Zee5.

     

    Said Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, Zee5 India: “Our focus for this year is ‘Entertainment Inclusion’, to ensure everybody, irrespective of the demographic and language preference, has access to purposeful entertainment on Zee5. The first step to this has been to further bolster our content offering followed by ensuring we are able to take that content to the right user. Our association with TVF is in that direction. Over 60% of our audience comes from Hindi-speaking markets and TVF caters perfectly to that group. Being a customer-obsessed platform, we are delighted to bring these much-loved and iconic TVF shows to our platform to further enhance our extensive library of purposeful, multilingual, and diverse titles. Going forward, we will continue to satiate viewer’s appetite for entertainment by offering them a robust slate of differentiated stories in the language of their choice and at their fingertips, reinforcing our positing as the Multilingual Storyteller for millions of entertainment seekers.”

     

    Commenting on this, Punit Misra, President, Content & International Markets, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, said, “Consumer obsession is the cornerstone of our content design thinking on Zee5. Our partnership with TVF is driven by that same obsession, as we seek the love and advocacy of both the OTT native youth audience as well as family audiences. Bringing in a mix of iconic shows and characters on one hand, and heart-warming new shows on the other, we hope to truly delight our viewers. We see a convergence of thinking about content design when working with TVF, driven as it is with our belief of the power of the cycle of observation to insight to finally, the creation of great characters and stories that touch our hearts and truly inspire. Our true reward is to have our viewers move from just being consumers of our high-quality content, to becoming cheerleaders and champions for the Zee5 platform.”

     

    Added Arunabh Kumar, Founder, TVF:  “It gives us immense pleasure to join hands with the team at Zee led by Mr Punit Misra. We are always trying to push the boundaries with our characters and stories, and we are confident that with the power of the Zee5 platform, our teams and stories will win the hearts of millions of new viewers across the country and the world over. With this collaboration, we are looking forward to creating real magic, not just bringing the best of TVF on the platform but also creating memorable new seasons and shows that our viewers and fans can thoroughly enjoy.”

     

    And this is what Nimisha Pandey, Head Hindi Originals, Zee5 India, said in a statement: “We are excited to team up with TVF, the creators who put streaming content on the map in this country. Their stories inspire an instant connect as their slice-of-life shows closely mirror the viewers’ lives, with charming ensemble of characters having relatable quirks brought alive by some very talented actors. The iconic TVF shows finding a home on Zee5 is just the beginning, and together we will be bringing our viewers shows that will surely win their hearts and put a smile on their faces. With new seasons of all-time favourites such as ‘Pitchers S2’, ‘Tripling S3’, ‘Humorously Yours S3’, ‘Aam Aadmi Family S4’, and ‘Engineering Girls S2’ along with some new shows for viewers to look forward to through the year!”

     

  • To continue delivering thought provoking shows

    Zee Telugu completes 16 years

    By Our Staff

     

    Zee Telugu has achieved a milestone. It has completed 16 years of operations this month. Since its inception on May 18, 2005, the channel has been curating content to serve the needs of Telugu audiences.

     

    Said Anuradha Gudur, Telugu Cluster Head, ZEEL: “It has been a tough year for people and businesses alike but there has some good news with vaccination being accessible soon to most of the citizens, we hope to see some positive change. Having said that, it is still very important to stay at home and break the chain. Every one are doing their bit to maintain a friendly distraction and Zee Telugu has successfully brought families together with the varied content offerings in the last one year. In such an age, it’s a challenge for a GEC to stay relevant, but throughout our journey, we have reinvented our content to suit the palate of the changing times. We have been steadfast in offering our viewers what they want to see along with adding new perspectives to the series by delivering thought-provoking shows. Zee Telugu Kutumbam came together to pay tribute to the every ardent viewer of the channel since its inception through Zee Mahostavam. We want to thank every viewer and urge them to stay home and be safe to fight against Covid-19 together.”

     

  • The rise of the ‘anytime’ consumer has fuelled the need for creating content that is platform-agnostic, says Ashish Sehgal

    Zee’s ‘Indian Pro Music League’ onboards many sponsors

    By Our Staff

     

    There is much excitement at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd with the success of its Indian Pro Music League (IPML), airing on Zee TV and Zee5.

     

    Speaking about the positive response from advertisers, Ashish Sehgal, Chief Growth Officer – Advertisement Revenue, ZEEL said: “The rise of the ‘anytime’ consumer has fuelled the need for creating content that is platform-agnostic and that can be consumed by the audience any time of the day. Our objective has always been to maximize our content presence by being platform agnostic and thereby providing holistic solutions to our advertisers. Our aim of bringing India’s first-ever music league on both, linear and digital platforms, was to amalgamate the enthusiasm generated by a league with the emotion evoking power of music. We are pleased to see the overwhelming response received from our partners and we are confident that the novel concept of the show along with the star-studded line-up will attract audiences across platforms to make the show a resounding success.”

     

    Among the many sponsors, IPML has:  Maruti-Suzuki and Lifebuoy as Co-Presenting sponsors, Parle G and Whisper as Co-Powered sponsors, Balaji Wafers as Special Partner and Nilkamal Industries’ Nilkamal Mattrezzz, Asian Paints Limited’s Ultima Protek and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) as Associate Sponsors. Phew!

     

     

  • TSBI Bharat to amplify Zee’s first Marathi music channel

    TheSmallBigIdea wins Zee Vajwa mandate

    By Our Staff

     

    TheSmallBigIdea (TSBI) has bagged the social media mandate for Zee’s first Marathi music channel, Zee Vajwa.

     

    Said Manish Solanki, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder, TheSmallBigIdea: “The growth of regional music has seen a remarkable increase in the past couple of years. The significant response of the consumers for songs in regional languages, other than Hindi, has shown a marked shift in perception of music. Listening to music in a language from your own region revives a cultural connection. Even the youth is warming up to experiential genres in regional languages, giving way to new forms of music and new ways to experience it. To exemplify the cultural twang of Marathi music and bring it closer to its audience, we at TSBI are excited to be a part of this journey – bringing the cultural and regional essence of the Marathi language to our digital consumer.”

     

    Added Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Consumer Officer, ZEEL: “At Zee, we are obsessed with creating content brands that bring alive the cultural vibrancy of a region in its truest form. With Zee Vajwa launching in the midst of a pandemic, our digital strategy had to deliver much beyond just awareness and ensure that our promise of amplifying everyday moments into a mahaul was effectively communicated through a unique and immersive brand experience. TSBI Bharat with their strong regional and medium understanding kept our viewers enthused and engaged throughout the launch, making us the reach leaders in the category in just 3 weeks of launch. Looking forward to many more successes with this team.”

     

     

  • Ravish Kumar will continue to lead the network’s regional broadcast forays in Kannada and Marathi

    Rajesh Iyer back at Viacom18. To head Colors Bangla, Odia, Tamil & Gujarati

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rajesh Iyer
    Rahul Joshi
    Rahul Joshi

    Viacom18 has announced the appointment of Rajesh Iyer to take on independent charge of Colors Bangla, Colors Odia, Colors Tamil and Colors Gujarati. Meanwhile, Ravish Kumar will continue to lead the network’s regional broadcast forays in Kannada and Marathi. Both Iyer and Kumar will work closely to grow the regional broadcast footprint of Viacom18.

     

    Speaking about the appointment, Rahul Joshi, MD, Network18 said: “Regional broadcast entertainment is a key pillar in our endeavour to chart out a high-growth path for Viacom18. India is witnessing an unprecedented boom in the segment and agility is the need of the hour to get to leadership positions in our existing regional markets. With his years of leadership experience across TV and digital ecosystems, Rajesh is ably poised to take on the challenges presented by the genre and successfully grow the business.”

     

    Iyer joined Network18 in March 2019 and has worked closely with the leadership team there to spearhead new initiatives. Prior to this and as part of the broadcast leadership team at ZEEL, he launched and headed Zee’s second Hindi GEC &TV in 2015. He has worked with Viacom18 in the past for six years when he led the marketing portfolio of the flagship channel Colors. He has also worked with Star India, YuppTV and advertising agencies Ambience Publicis and Ogilvy & Mather.

     

     

  • &pictures refreshed new look and feel

    &pictures powers on with ‘On Nahi, Full On’

    By A Correspondent

     

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CGNX8xBh8CJ/?igshid=1ahkuiep5iozj

     

    Zee Entertainment’s film channel &pictures has announced a new brand philosophy of ‘On Nahi, Full On’. The attempt is to “ignite a spark of aspiration amongst the young and breathless to take charge and maximise every moment without slowing down”.

     

    Talking about the new ideology, Ruchir Tiwari, Business Head, Zee Hindi Movies Cluster, said: “Over the past 7 years, &pictures has carved a niche for itself by offering content that reflects the belief of the young and aspirational India.&pictures now has the highest skew amongst the young audience i.e. 13-21 years NCCS A in the Hindi Movie category. The brand proposition ‘On Nahi, Full On’ is an energetic and fun-loving mindset that embraces the beliefs of this distinct viewer set. Creating an immersive experience for our viewers, we have created refreshing content blocks with ‘blockbuster premieres’, ‘Full on Dynamites’ that celebrates Gen Z of Bollywood‘, 2pm ‘Full on Time-out’ slot, Hollywood movies back to back with ‘Full on Hollywood’, and many more. Foraying into original content with ‘Footfairy’, a TV first initiative is a testament of our commitment to offer enthralling content to complement the viewers evolving consumption patterns.Through this re-energized experience, &pictures aims to cement our positioning in the minds of our consumers.”

     

    Added Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Consumer Officer, ZEEL: “While the unpredictable 2020 threw tons of challenges at us, we dealt with it in our own extraordinary way by making every opportunity count. Pegged on this premise, ‘On Nahi, Full On’, gives the dynamic young generation, a cue to maximize every moment without slowing down. And, we are bringing alive this Full-On ideology through the visual mnemonic of a ‘power on button’ and the ‘&pictures shorties’ our brand films that draws a connect between the consumers world and the role of &pictures to amplify life.”

     

     

  • The channel launched on Thursday, October 1

    Zee Entertainment launches Zee Zest

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited launched its first lifestyle channel – Zee Zest on October 1. The channel will present content on food, travel, lifestyle, home improvement, wellness, culture, and DIY to enable one to UNLIMIT Life straight from the confines of your armchair.

     

    Said Amit Nair, Business Head, Zee Zest: “Zee Zest is the promise of a new tomorrow with taking charge of life and experiencing newer journeys and amazing stories. Our carefully curated international shows and India originals will be an escape from the regular, a path to your aspirations, a catalyst to UNLIMIT the horizon of your experiences. The diverse content across sub-genres with a homegrown appeal will entertain, lead to discovery, and will liven up every moment of the viewer with the intent to UNLIMIT Life itself. We hope to inspire our audiences to take up their own journeys of joy, creativity and breaking boundaries by adding Zest to their lives”

     

    Added Amit Shah, Cluster Head – North, West & Premium Channels, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited: “Zee has always created strong curated brands that cater to the diverse entertainment needs of the consumer. We have been market leaders with our offerings, the pioneers in setting trends when it comes to content creation. Zee Zest’s unique proposition of offering an enhanced experience with a TV & digital presence ensures we engage with our viewers across all relevant touchpoints and are also able to provide more value to the advertisers with platform agnostic solutions. Zee Zest will capture the consumers’ mind space by offering the best of lifestyle content with shows that not only entertain but educate and add value to our viewers’ lives.”

     

    Zee Zest will be a 360-degree platform and will reach the audience via TV, Web, Events, and Social Media. While TV will bring interesting content, the social media platform will provide as a means to make it happen. Stay tuned as the Web platform and Events will become the two-way communication channel between the audience and the brand. With various recipes, itineraries for road trips, DIY hacks, articles on interesting cultural and historical facts will bring the audience a step close to the life they have always hoped to explore. To sum it up, UNLIMIT Life by joining Zee Zest to imagine and experience some of the never seen before, heard before ideas and stories as the channel offers shows revolving around travel, food, culture, home decor, health, relationships and more along with some exclusive global content featuring for the first time in India.

     

    Zee Zest will be available across all major cable, DTH, and digital platforms starting 1st October 2020. The channel will also be available on ZEEL’s digital and mobile entertainment platform, Zee5.

     

     

  • The content brand returns with a bigger promise of ‘Zindagi Mil ke Jiyenge’

    Zee5 brings back Zindagi

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEE) has announced the return of its popular content brand Zindagi, on its digital entertainment platform, Zee5.

     

    Speaking on the announcement, Amit Goenka, CEO, Zee5 Global and International Broadcast Business: “Zee’s strength has always been in its ability to narrate unique stories, to connect with billions of audiences worldwide, and to offer different genres of content. Zindagi has always been appreciated for its premium content offering and culturally rich stories from across the globe, which are far more attuned to the digital audience sensibilities. Zindagi’s universal content has a very strong appeal, and we are excited to offer this rich & engaging content library to the users of Zee5, in India and across the world. We also understand that the viewers’ needs are diverse and therefore we have a compelling content catalogue from Zindagi, which encapsulates a universality of emotions. We stay committed to offering an extraordinary entertainment experience to our consumers across multiple touchpoints, and we are sure that our viewers will once again embrace this widely acclaimed brand on our platform.”

     

     

  • Four other Zeenetwork channels & TV, Zee Marathi, Zee Punjabi and Zee Yuva also re-started daily new episodes on July 13

    Zee says #BanegiBaatSaathSaath in partnership with marquee CPG brands

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) announced its content comeback via a partnership with leading CPG brands. Zee collaborated with leading brands – Nestle Maggi, Amul Lassi, PepsiCo, Red Label, Cadbury Dairy Milk, ITC Dark Fantasy to gear up the nation for its daily content comeback on Zee TV on July 13. Four other HSM channels –  & TV(HGEC), Zee Marathi, Zee Yuva (MGEC) and Zee Punjabi (PGEC) – also made their daily content comeback on the same day.

     

    Said Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Consumer Officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited: “With the resumption of production, we are excited to bring fresh content for our consumers. The last three months have caused a significant stir amongst the mood of the nation. People are increasingly investing time in entertainment to cope with the uncertainty prevailing around. TV has been the greatest common unifier and respite in this lockdown and as content creators, we acknowledge that it is a huge responsibility we carry. For us, understanding the pulse of our consumers and customers and delivering delight is an obsession, which is what we are attempting to do both with this campaign and in crafting all our stories for the second half 2020. The stories we bring will aim to uplift the mood of the nation and provide our viewers respite through all that they are going through. Zee has and will always stand by its viewers and all its partners and is looking forward to holding hands and turning on the light at the end of this tunnel and are confident that we will once again provide valuable experiences to our partners and viewers.”

     

    Added Ashish Sehgal, Chief Growth Officer, Advertisement Revenue, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL): “With the resurgence of fresh dose of content, we would like to celebrate the spirit of camaraderie with all our stakeholders – cherished viewers & advertisers – to brighten and cheer up with engaging content. Brands will once again have the opportunity to resonate and pave their way into the minds of their consumers in this new environment. At Zee, we have not only seamlessly weaved stories for brands with relevant influencers and have been at the forefront in creating an integrated platform agnostic solution for our advertisers/ brands but ensured that they are part of our communication as well. This has led us to partner with our brands in unique ways and create value for them and #13kitaiyyari is another testimony to the power of partnerships, more importantly brand partners are integral part of the communication when we are reconnecting with our consumer.”

     

    On the Banegi Baat Saath Saath campaign, Sagar Kapoor, CCO, Lowe Lintas said: “We want to reinforce the power of unity and remind everyone that if we come together we can conquer any barrier. The film made for Banegi Baat Saath Saath is a tribute to the industry’s resilience and its commitment to entertain the vast audience it caters to. The message we want to reverberate is that of hope in sight and encourages everyone to rally together to craft a better second half as we come back from the very short interval!”

     

    Added Srija Chatterjee, Managing Director, Publicis Worldwide India: “While we were preparing for the big come back Zee TV campaign, we had this germ of an idea, it was all about bringing multiple brands together to co-create cheer and tremendous excitement, as we know that our dear Zee TV viewers are indeed eagerly waiting for their favourite shows to come back with fresh episodes. We developed #13thKiTayyari and this was a testament of true collaboration between the Zee team who got in touch with the brands and the Publicis team who delivered this campaign from start to finish in a matter of just 3 days. This is probably the first time that so many brands were coming together in one campaign. We are elated over the chatter on this campaign… goes to show that we achieved what we set out to do – Go ahead and tune in on 13th of July to enjoy Naye Kisse – naye Episodes of their favourite shows on Zee TV.”

     

    Said Atul Shrivastava, CEO, Laqshya: “We are thrilled to partner with Zee for their comeback announcement. The power of the outdoor medium with the might of the partner brands and the Zee network created tremendous buzz on ground around the campaign. The message of solidarity from Zee resonates with the partners and viewers alike and we look forward to more fruitful associations through the coming half of the year”

     

     

  • The teams have enabled innovations through remote production of content over mobile and professional cameras by using video and audio production technologies to support broadcast, digital & social platforms

    Zee Entertainment embraces tech solutions to create fresh content amidst lockdown

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zee) has announced fresh content for its consumers by embracing and utilising technology. The teams have enabled innovations through remote production of content over mobile and professional cameras by using video and audio production technologies to support broadcast, digital & social platforms.

     

    Speaking on the extraordinary steps undertaken by the company, Punit Goenka, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Zee Entertainment said: “Zee has always set new trends for the industry, and I am very proud of our teams for making the optimal utilization of technology  solutions to ensure that our consumers continued to get a fresh dosage of entertainment content, amidst the lockdown. We will continue to create fresh, rich and engaging content for our viewers, by discovering new means and paths. It is time for the Industry to define a new normal, to ensure that our consumers remain well-informed and entertained”.

     

     

  • Over 3500 employees of Zee have joined the initiative with personal contributions

    Zee intensifies drive for Covid-19 relief, offers financial relief to 5k+ daily wage-earners

    By A Correspondent

     

    Media and Entertainment conglomerate Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zee) has announced a financial relief to over 5000 daily wage-earners, working directly or indirectly for the company in its overall production ecosystem.

     

    In order to further support Prime Ministers’ Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM Cares Fund), ZEEL will leverage the strength of its global media network across encouraging people to contribute. Over and above this step, Zee has also provided an opportunity to all of its 3500 employees to offer voluntary contributions towards the PM Cares Fund through an intranet portal. The Company will match the corpus collected from the employee contribution and the collective amount will be donated to PM Cares Fund.

     

    Speaking on this announcement, Punit Goenka, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Zee Entertainment said: “We stand committed to financially support all the daily wage earners working in our production ecosystem. We firmly believe in the extraordinary power of coming together and fighting against a situation. In these challenging times, it is extremely critical for India Inc. to come together and support the National level initiative undertaken by our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi. Apart from the financial support, we will also contribute in creating nationwide awareness about the noble initiative. Leveraging our strong reach across the Nation and World at large, we are urging our esteemed viewers to join this movement. This is a time where the entire Nation needs to come together as One Family.”

     

    Earlier, Zee had implemented an initiative titled #BreakTheCoronaOutbreak where content across 40+ channels was paused for a 30-second break throughout the day, encouraging viewers to wash their hands. In line with the decision undertaken by Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), television channel Zee Anmol has also been available free-of-cost to all viewers across all DTH platforms and cable TV networks for a period of two months.

     

    On the company’s digital side, Zee5 ensured that the internet bandwidth across the country was optimized by replacing High Definition (HD) content to Standard Definition (SD) content. Zee5 also ensured that the viewers remained calm and composed during the lockdown phase with its #BeCalmBeEntertained initiative.