By A Correspondent
Aparna Bhosle will lead Zee TV as its Business Head. Bhosle will continue to lead the FTA GECs and will report to Punit Misra, CEO, Domestic Broadcast Business, ZEEL.
The premium cluster will now be led by Shaurya Mehta, in addition to his current role as Chief Operating Officer, Living Entertainment. He will also report to Punit Misra, CEO, Domestic Broadcast Business, ZEEL
By A Correspondent
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), the first entertainment network to have a 24-hour Hindi movie channel, is now launching an all-new Hindi movie channel. Zee Bollywood is the name, and it will be unveiled on August 31 in the same slot as Zee Classic.
The channel has curated a roster of over 600 exclusive ‘Masalon se koot koot ke bhari filmein’. Said Prathyusha Agarwal, CMO, ZEEL: “At ZEEL, our aim has always been to fuel the entertainment space with extraordinary content that satiates the needs of our viewers. Specifically, in the Hindi movie segment we understand the viewer as someone whose mind seeks different kinds of cinema, while his heart continues to yearn for Masala Bollywood! Hence, we came up with the Big idea of Zee Bollywood – a channel that brings you the Best in class ‘Masalon se Koot Koot Ke Bhari Filmein’ that are high on Filmoglobin – the antidote to dubs and new age realistic movies, so that life is pumped up with ‘101% Shuddh Bollywood’. Zee Bollywood is our tribute to Masala Bollywood movies that excite the common man. The brand promise of 101% Shuddh Bollywood was conceptualized with rooted strengths of Timeless Bollywood movies, Larger than life expressions and Deadly dialogues. The channel’s look and communication has been created to pay homage to the principles of Masala Bollywood with original, iconic and dynamic renditions that viewers will find unique.â€
Added Ruchir Tiwari, Business Head, Zee Hindi Movies Cluster: “Zee Bollywood is our tribute to that purest form of cinema which stands for wholesome entertainment that defines the ultimate movie viewing experience. The charm of these movies lies in the unparalleled blend of raw emotions, intense drama, powerful action and soulful music delivered in a grand, glamorous scale. However, with the shift in focus to new age or realistic movies in the recent times, this charm is slowly getting lost.Audience of Hindi movies increasingly yearns for this genre of movies which is a strong need gap. With the launch of Zee Bollywood, we intend to wow our viewers with a platform that revels in this flamboyance of Shuddh Bollywood movies.â€
Said Vijay Sanil, President, Sales at Zee Network: “Our latest offering Zee Bollywood promises to appeal to the Hindi speaking markets in the heartland. The new channel will now cater to the hard-core Bollywood fan who is a loyalist of masala Bollywood movies. The strong brand proposition has helped us connect with some of the key likeminded brands across sectors garnering four channel partners even before the channel goes live. Currently we have Nerolac, Lays, Cadbury and Nirma Salt as our channel partners. The response has been extremely positive from our clients and such partnerships further validate our belief in our offering. We are hoping to drive synergies with more brands as we embark on this new journey.â€
By A Correspondent
The International Advertising Association’s (IAA) India Chapter presented the winners for the sixth edition of the coveted Leadership Awards at St Regis Hotel, Mumbai.
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Key highlights of the panel discussion: Prathyusha Agarwal, CMO- ZEEL: “TV has been the source of entertainment for every Indian household for decades and continues to be so. As the entertainment powerhouse of the country we believe only when we come together across platforms, extraordinary happens. Hence, we are here to provide the best solution to the advertisers. We are also witnessing huge growth in the regional markets and connecting with people in their own language is invaluable. Fundamentally, TV is and will always be relevant, but it is also a glorious time for marketers with digital and working together to effectively reach out to consumersâ€
Sanjay Behl, CEO- Raymond Ltd: “Properties that are being watched in India right now are at an all-time high beating world numbers. Fundamentally, there are two questions in context of media, first being brand position and second which medium helps me build my brand. I feel brands are working towards influencing immediate purchase rather than analysing which medium helps in the long run. No doubt, that the reach of TV is high, it is also quick as product life cycles are short and TV gives you a wide reach within a 30 second Ad duration. It is also intense as TV as a broadcast medium builds passive engagement vs Digital disengagement. I also feel quality innovations have been happening in consumption of the media as TV remains the second highest return on investment after paid research. I truly believe TV is a and will remain a powerhouse medium in our country.â€
Shashi Sinha, CEO- IPG Media Brands India: “In the media agency ecosystem, there is a lot of discussion on ratings. I appeal that we must look at first impressions to make actual comparison and what comes easily to traditional advertisers may not appeal to the youth today. I feel TV has a long way to go and is a under nourished medium. However, for people to build brands, India still has a long way to go so one needs to advertise using TV as a medium.â€
Partho Das Gupta, CEO – BARC India: “TV today reaches 836 mn individuals across India, we as Indians still are TV fanatics. People are spending 4 hrs on TV in the South of India. Almost 12 hours of advertising gets telecasted in India. Hindi content is still ruling, 688 mn viewers are watching GEC serials while at a similar number 680mn are watching movies which is a higher number than people who watch movies in the theatre. Sports as a genre is also going up. Overall, I would say TV is the biggest dominant medium today and will continue to grow.â€
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Said IAA India President Ramesh Narayan: “A unique power-packed event, we have with us advertisers, media, corporates all assembled to salute excellence in leadership. This is very inspirational.India chapter has been leading from the front to name a few initiatives #WorktoLivetoWork , IAA Mentorship for Women, IndIAA Regional Awards, Reigniting the Artist and Storyteller in you, IAA Olive Crown Awards, IndIAA national awards and for the first time in 80 years we have IAA World Congress  being hosted in Kochi in February 2019.â€
Before the awards were presented, a panel discussion was moderated by Partho Dasgupta, BARC India with eminent panellists –Sanjay Behl, CEO, Raymond, Shashi Sinha, CEO of IPG MediaBrands and Prathyusha Agarwal, CMO, ZEEL on television medium being a strong influencer (See box alongside).
The highlight of the evening saw IAA India inducting veteran industryperson Sam Balsara into the IAA Hall of Fame for doing so much more than just founding and building a great communication company.
Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Piramal Group was recognised as the IAA Business Leader of the Year. Sharing his learnings from the Bhagwad Gita he mentioned it has the philosophy that can be used to practice on a day to day basis. ” Some of the lessons I have learned are to 1. Have courage – keep fighting 2. Be fearless – take the path less travelled  3. Focus on action – results follow actions 4. Be equanimous”.
The event was sponsored by Zee. Lokmat group was Associate Partner. Said Rishi Darda, Joint Managing Director and Editorial Director, Lokmat on the association: “At Lokmat as Maharahstra’s No 1 Newspaper we have always focussed on recognising individuals for their exemplary contribution across various areas. #IAALeadershipAwards partnership compliments our organisational focus in identifying deserving marketers of today and providing a platform to create awareness on their outstanding work in their relevant area. The stellar jury also adds to the credibility of the event. The attendance of stalwarts in media, the hall of fame induction of Sam Balsara and the motivation towards mentoring youngsters of tomorrow; all of which is focussed towards nurturing and developing the marketing fraternity. We thank industry for supporting us all through and IRS 2017 not only affirms our Maharashtra leadership but confirmed our leadership in Pune market.â€
Here’s a list of the prizewinners:
Winner List – Leadership Awards 2018
By A Correspondent
Bhojpuri channel Big Ganga has joined hands with Bhojpuri superstar Ravi Kishan in an exclusive seven-movie deal over a period of 2.5 years. As a part of the deal between the two, ZEEL (which owns Big Ganga now) has acquired the exclusive rights for both linear and non-linear formats for all the seven movies.
Speaking about the same, an unnamed spokesperson of Big Ganga said: “Big Ganga offers differentiated and dynamic content for family viewing which resonates well with the masses. With its popular movie slot brands, Ganga Talkies and Family Talkies’, it makes us the only channel to go beyond movies and offer high-quality non-fiction, fiction, devotional content for the region. We have the exclusive rights to some of the biggest titles of Bhojpuri’s Cine Stars. Big Ganga’s movie library is quite vast and garners the highest rated World Television Premieres in the market. The 7-movie deal with Ravi Kishan Productions is a step towards bringing in Bhojpuri cinema to newer audiences and continue to grow the industry with compelling storylines. We are confident that each of these movies will resonate well with the audience and provide a push in the right direction to the growing demand for Bhojpuri cinema.â€
By A Correspondent
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) has announced the appointment of Shariq Patel as the Chief Executive Officer, Essel Vision Productions Ltd. Patel will report to Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL.
Patel, it may be recalled was CEO of the Zee group’s Indian Cricket League (for a year and a half) and after which he worked with Studio18 for around two years. Before joining ICL, he worked with Radio Mid-Day as VP and Station Head for four years. He has also worked with Airtel, Indya.com and Exim Bank after completing an MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is Founder of Versus Sports and Trigno Media, two ventures that Patel founded in 2011.
By A Correspondent
After nearly two decades of strategic collaboration, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd and Turner International have mutually decided to work independently for driving subscription revenues.
The global and Indian giants joined hands way back in 2002 to manage distribution and trade marketing for a bouquet of channels in India. As both parties continue to explore avenues for growth, they jointly thanked their value chain partners to have supported them through the journey.
By A Correspondent
Publicis Media has won the full digital duties of Zee5 in India, the recently launched digital entertainment platform from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL). The business was won as part of a multi-agency pitch. It may be recalled that Zee5 had announced the awarding of the Media AoR to Carat earlier this
Said Group CEO Tanmay Mohanty: “The OTT segment in India is poised for exponential growth and requires specialist expertise trained to navigate this new and emerging area. We look forward to making Zee5 a powerful business.â€
Added Archana Anand, Digital Head, Zee5 India: “Zee5’s language focus makes it strongly relevant to people across the length and breadth of India. We were therefore looking for a partner that could bring in the necessary digital marketing solutions and deep consumer insights to help take us across markets and quickly establish Zee5 as the go-to digital destination for language content. Publicis has strong credentials and experience in digital marketing and understands the changing milieu of the digital and entertainment business.â€
By A Correspondent
It’s all over the frontpages of the mainline dailies.
The Zee group has embarked on an all-new corporate identity, and as a first, it has thanked its peers – Sony Pictures Networks, Sun TV Network, Viacom 18 and Star India – for their support to help achieve their dream. “In the last 25 years, we have broken new grounds, scaled new heights and explored new horizons in media and entertainment. This would not have been possible without the support of our peers, with whom we share a common dream of entertaining the nation. We acknowledge with gratitude their contribution in realising this dream. Here’s to all of us. And to our extraordinary future. Because together, we can make extraordinary happen
The Zee group – the entertainment, digital, news, music, live entertainment, movies – all of them together – now have a new common corporate credo: Extraordinary Together. While it embodies the earlier credo of ‘Vasudeva Kutumbakam’, Sanskrit for ‘The world is one family’, the new corporate philosophy has a firm eye on the achievement of a three billion consumer base. This growth from a 1.3bn audience currently over the next five years would mean that Zee will aggressively spread its tentacles across the globe.
In India too, there are plans to grow the franchise. In broadcast for instance, there will be variants of vanilla GECs, and the spread will be across Southern languages… for instance in Malayalam.
The Zee group had invited the media for a press meet with many of its senior professionals in attendance. Also present were three representatives from films and theatre.
Speaking on Zee’s new corporate brand ideology, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL said: “Our Chairman, Dr. Subhash Chandra’s vision and pioneering efforts caused a revolution in the country 25 years ago. Over time, Zee has evolved from a television broadcaster into a media and entertainment conglomerate with businesses spanning across the spectrum, from broadcasting to music, movies, digital, live entertainment and theatre, providing an extraordinary range of entertainment to audiences around the world. Our new brand ideology – ‘Extraordinary Together’ is rooted in the philosophy that from collaboration comes strength to deliver the extraordinary. In a global company like ours with interests across diverse verticals and businesses, we believe that our ability to win lies in us being able to effectively come together and harness this strength to be extraordinary in the market.â€
Throwing light on the company’s growth plans, Amit Goenka, CEO – International Broadcast Business, ZEEL said, “With the vision of becoming the world’s leading global content company from the emerging markets, content is our core focus area and our primary objective is to create extraordinary content for all types of audience across different screens and platforms. Digital is a key focus area and we are soon to launch our revolutionary digital platform, Z5 in the next few weeks.† There was much discussion on Zee’s digital foray and Amit Goenka also informed mediapersons that an all-new digital platform named Zee5 will be unveiled soon.
The new identity has been designed by London-based designer Martin Lambie-Nairn, Creative Director, ML-N. Lambie-Nairn had also designed the Zee group brand identity that’s visible on the channels and all their communication.
Said Lambie-Nairn: “Twenty-five years is celebrating what you’ve achieved and far more importantly, understanding where you are going, rethinking the brand purpose and considering how to address your audiences in the future. Before conceptualising the new brand identity, our first step was to understand this rich legacy of Zee, unravel where the viewer aspirations and expectations are headed, and then arrive at the brand purpose and ideology that is future-ready. This helped us create a truly global brand architecture that would be easy to operate across genres, businesses and countries and more importantly, introduce magic into it. With this vastly diverse bouquet of brands and businesses that Zee owns, it was necessary to have a golden thread that runs through all the businesses – an elegant and monolithic design language that links the organisation together and inspires to create the extraordinary.â€
Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony Pictures Television (SPT) announced that they have entered into a first pay features deal bringing a range of premium films to Indian audiences. It may be noted that Sony Pictures Networks operates in India with a slew of channels, but then this is what business is all about and, as they say, it’s all about the money, honey.
The new pay one deal marks the first between SPT and Zee Entertainment in India and includes such Sony Pictures Entertainment blockbusters as Spider-Man: Homecoming, Blade Runner 2049, Baby Driver, The Emoji Movie and Life among others.
“We are very excited about this new partnership with Zee in India. Given the recent box office success of films like Spider-Man: Homecoming, we are confident that Indian audiences will be thrilled to know that they can soon enjoy experiencing this and many more of our premium films on Zee. From our franchise films to our big blockbusters and critically acclaimed films, we look forward to working together with Zee to entertain what is a very important and fast-growing market,†said Ken Lo, senior vice president, international distribution, Asia Pacific, SPT.
“It is our endeavour to become a formidable player within the English entertainment space in India, and this deal with SPT, will help us become the number one choice for movie lovers,†said Aparna Bhosle, Business Cluster Head – Premium & FTA GEC Channels, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL).
By A Correspondent
Zee Tamil has unveiled a new brand identity and also launched its HD channel. The launch took place at the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Seniors event with stars from Zee Tamil in a grand ceremony celebrating the channels new look and brand proposition.
Commenting on the new brand identity, Siju Prabhakaran, Cluster Head – South Business, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited said: “With a refreshed brand purpose, we, at Zee Tamil, strive to erase the lines between the younger and older generations, especially women, urging them to unite and embrace progress & change in all forms. Synonymous with Tamil pride, Zee Tamil will stand for progressive and onward-looking content featuring bold and determined characters whose modern outlook is grounded by tradition and values. We wanted a strong voice to the campaign who actually stands for our values-Jyotika both with her on-screen & off-screen persona symbolizes a perfect blend of changing views but unchanging values. She is the perfect role model for our audiences, highlighting the many benefits of self-inspired change not only on one’s own life, but also the society as a whole.â€
As part of this campaign, Zee Tamil will bring to life its new proposition with two brand films. Directed by National Award-winning Sudha Kongara and shot by acclaimed cinematographer Ravivarman, these films speak of balance between changing views and unchanging values that strengthens relationships.
By A Correspondent
Twenty-five years after launch, Zee TV unveils an all-new ideology, encapsulated in the line – Aaj Likhenge Kal. The fresh reiteration of its brand purpose urges the audiences to curate their own extraordinary future. Two films have been created by Zee’s new creative agency, Publicis India.
Said Punit Misra, CEO – Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, Domestic Broadcast Business: “As a pioneer of the satellite broadcast space, Zee TV’s content has always highlighted values that are deeply ingrained in the middle-class audiences around the world. As we look forward to the next leg of our journey, it is important for us to continuously reflect the aspirations of the evolving viewer, and inspire them to be their extraordinary self. Aaj Likhenge Kal is a brand and content mantra which will translate into a stronger bond with viewers. We wish to walk along the life journeys of our viewers and nudge and support them to proactively take control of their destinies. Zee TV’s evolution of its brand proposition is a part of a larger brand refresh exercise for our organization.â€
The Aaj Likhenge Kal philosophy is brought alive with a brand new visual identity, where each element signifies the aspiration of the great Indian middle class, note a communique, adding:  “The circular logo denotes the universal appeal of Zee TV’s all-inclusive content. The orange colour represents the inner glow or radiance that emanates from within – a symbol of positivity and confidence that the brand echoes. The brand packaging will be brought alive through elements of nature such as fire, earth, water, air – the diya which represents light and hope, the blooming of an orange flower that stands for the beauty of life and evolution, gold that denotes eternal richness and mosaic which enunciates the power of synergy that stems from several fragmented pieces coming together to form a beautiful whole.â€
Added Deepak Rajadhyaksha, Deputy Business Head – Zee TV: “With Aaj Likhenge Kal, we are cementing the building blocks of our relationship with viewers. As we move forward, we hope to unlock the India of our dreams by serving as catalysts in transforming the middle-class into self-motivated go-getters, reaching out for the extraordinary. Our shows, be it the existing line-up or the new launches, will be in reflective of our core proposition. With them, we wish to ignite a spark amongst our viewers to fight both intrinsic and societal battles, and proactively transform their destinies to shape a beautiful tomorrow.â€
Said Prathyusha Agarwal, CMO, ZEEL: :As we bring alive our brand philosophy through our shows and characters, a robust marketing strategy will establish and amplify the brand POV through multiple brand assets. Our brand anthem, composed by Vishal Bharadwaj, sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Arijit Singh hums the extraordinary journeys our audiences are making and hopes to be the voice of this unwavering spirit. Our brand film captures the essence of the great Indian middle class rising and aims to spark many more to take the leap. To truly touch people’s lives with the essence of Aaj Likhenge Kal this Diwali, Zee TV will bring light to the nation’s budding future through mobile vans with LED lit installations of the new logo. These vans, strategically placed, will provide light for those who would otherwise study under street lamps.â€
Zee TV completes 25 years of existence on October 2, 2017. Since we are closed that day, we bring you the first in a week-long series on the channel starting today. The last in the series will appear on Friday, October 6
By Pradyuman Maheshwari
Phew! Twenty-five years of Zee Television. Just five years back, one celebrated the twentieth anniv with much fanfare. I remember the days when Zee TV was being launched in 2002. Tension was building up around Babri Masjid which culminated in what happened in Ayodhya in December 1992.
I would edit a computer magazine then – Business Computer for the Indian Express group’s Sterling Newspapers. I would also review television for film trade weekly Screen and moonlight for a few publications.Star Plus wasn’t for the masses then – though shows like The Bold and The Beautiful and Santa Barbara were very popular with the urban set. One would watch the BBC World Service to find out what actually happened at Ayodhya in 1992, and many of us would be nuts about the graphics on MTV and knew each veejay by name.
| The Zee Story
Timeline of mostly the entertainment part of the Zee Television story
1992 > Launches Zee TV > Initial Public Offering of Zee Telefilms Limited 1994 > EL TV launched 1995 > Commences Siticable operations Joint Venture with News Corp > Launches Zee News and Zee Cinema. > Zee TV goes global – launches Zee TV, UK 1996 > Starts first cable channel in India – Siti Channel. > Launches Zee TV, Africa. 1997 > Launches Zee Music (originally called Music Asia). 1998 > Launches Zee TV in the US. > Institutes ‘Zee Cine Awards’. 1999 > Acquires News Corp’s 50% stake in joint ventures of their television broadcasting business tie-up. > Launches regional channels. > Launches Zee News 2000 > Launches Internet over Cable services – first cable company in India to do so. > Enters into content distribution joint ventures with MGM and Viacom.> Launches pay bouquet of channels in the Asian region. 2001 > Introduces Zee TV and Zee News as pay television offerings. >‘Gadar – Ek Prem Katha’ became highest grossing box office movie (it released on the same day as Aamir Khan’s Lagaan) 2002 > Acquires controlling stakes in ETC Networks Limited and Padmalaya Telefilms Limited. 2003 > Launches 5 new channels for the DTH market viz. Action cinema, Classic cinema, MX, Premier cinema and Smile TV. > Enters into a distribution tie-up with Rajshri Pictures for theatrical distribution of films in India. > Launches ‘Trendz’ – A premium fashion and style channel, targeted at the fashion conscious Indian consumer. > Launches Zee Business 2005 > JV with Dainik Bhaskar group to set up DNA, DNA launched 2006 > De-merger of Zee Telefilms Limited. > Failed attempt to acquire news agency UNI 2007 > Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEE) gets listed as an independent company. > Zee Next launched 2008 > Zee Next shuts down 2010 > Launches Zee Khana Khazana – India’s first 24-hour food channel > Launches Zee Salaam – India’s first Urdu infotainment satellite television channel> Acquires stake in Ten Sports. > Launches Ten Cricket – a dedicated 24-hour Cricket Channel.> Launches Ten Action+ – sports channel showcasing the best football action from around the world. > Launches India.com – Joint Venture between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. and Mail.com 2011 > ZEE’s distribution arm, Zee-Turner Ltd, enters into a 50:50 JV with Star Den Media Services Pvt. Ltd. to form MediaPro Enterprise India Pvt. Ltd. > Announces share buyback 2012 > Launches Ditto TV – India’s first and only OTT (Over-The-Top TV) Distribution Platform > Launches Ten Golf – India’s first and exclusive 24 hour Golf channel > Launches 24-hour Bengali movie channel > Announces launch of a kids’ channel >Launches Zee Alwan – Dedicated 24 Hour Arabic Channel 2013 > Launches &Pictures and Zee Anmol 2014 > Launches &pictures HD and Zindagi – a premium Hindi GEC channel 2015 > Launches Zee Theatre – India’s first M&E company to foray into theatre production > Launches Zee Magic – the first French GEC offering Indian content to mainstream French audiences in Francophone Africa > Acquires Sarthak TV – the #1 GEC in Odiya language > Launches Hindi GEC &tv and &tv HD > Launches Zee Hiburan – A GEC localised for Indonesia > Launches Zee World – a GEC for mainstream audiences in Africa 2016 > Announces acquisition of the GECs from Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd > Launches Zee Marathi HD, Zee Bangla HD and Zee Talkies HD > Launches Zee Mundo – its Spanish-language Bollywood movie channel for the US Hispanic & LATAM markets > Launches Zee Cinemalu – its Telugu movie channel > Launches Zee Anmol Cinema – its FTA Hindi Movie channel > Launches Zee Yuva – the first regional youthful channel targeted at Marathi audiences > Launches Zee.One – a Bollywood movie channel for Germany > Launches Zee Sine – a Bollywood movie channel for the Philippines > Launches OZEE – a new digital platform > Launches ZEAL for Unity – a peace initiative 2017 > Launch of Z5 Weyyak for the Arabic audience > Launches Zee Mundo in Mexico and Ecuador > Shuts down Zindagi on June 30, moves it to OTT > Announces entry into Poland with Zee.One > Enters Mali with the launch of Zee Magic and Zee Cinema > Completes first phase of Two-Phase Divestment of Ten Sports Network to Sony Pictures > Launches its first radio station 106.2 big fm in the UAE > Launches two new channels, Zee Bollymovies, a 24-hour dedicated Bollywood movie channel and Zee Bollynova, a customised GEC, in Africa > Completes acquisition of RBNL channels Big Magic and Big Ganga. Also, 49% equity in Big FM
Source: Zee Corporate Communications, Zee website, MxM Newsdesk
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Zee arrived and not many took it very seriously initially. All we knew was that a Subhash Chandra Goel was behind the venture. Yup, the same man who had set up the Esselworld amusement park on the outskirts of Mumbai, was once a rice trader and had made a success of Essel Packaging. But for someone like me in the Mumbai media, it was the association of Ashok Kurien, then poster boy of Indian advertising, that led me to believe that there was merit in the venture.
A friend at Mid-Day asked me to write about this weirdly-named ‘Z’ TV. For a while, we would call it Z, thinking that just as our Maths professor at college would pronounce ‘z’ as ‘zee’, the announcers called the channel Zee. I am fuzzy about it, but I think my story on Zee in Mid-Day appeared soon after Rajdeep Sardesai’s did in the Times of India.
I remember reasoning with my friend that Zee had a future because Kurien couldn’t get it wrong, and it’s for this reason I insisted we also interview Subhash Chandra on the occasion. I don’t think we carried the interview.
Zee moved on from strength to strength. UTV, which had done programmes like The Mathemagic Show on Doordarshan, came up with a variety of gameshows… Saanp Seedi, for one.
Doordarshan launched a Bollywood music countdown show in Superhit Muqabla (produced by Harish Thawani’s Nimbus), but the satellite channel came up with its own popular countdown show (Philips Top 10).
There was a period when Doordarshan’s primary and Metro channels gave Zee serious competition, but with time, couldn’t match Chandra’s longterm vision of the space.
Zee experimented a fair bit – a news bulletin in colloquial Hindi peppered with a lot of English words, a weekend show on the stockmarket, a telefilm by Mahesh Bhatt, and finally a second channel called EL TV. I would work with Mid-Day then and very actively tracked Zee’s various forays.
Zee’s top team saw various captains as business and programming heads: – Karuna Samtani, Nitin Keni, Digvijay Singh, Kamlesh Pandey, Meenakshi Menon, Anil Dharker for a bit, Chandraprakash Dwivedi… the list could go on. Sandeep Goyal too was CEO and announced a makeover, but he exited soon, to be followed by Apurva Purohit. Pradeep Guha occupied the CEO’s chair, but he left after a few years. Nitin Vaidya, who had helmed the regional channels for a while, took charge of the flagship Zee TV, but he too moved on leaving one with the belief that while the Zee top job may be coveted, it was too hot to handle for professionals. In fact when MxMIndia tried speaking to some of the former captains around the time of the 20th anniv, many refused to be quoted saying that since it was too long ago for them to remember much.
Yet, privately they acknowledge that even though Subhash Chandra is a maverick, he’s a huge force to reckon with in Indian media. He is aggressive, dynamic, cost-conscious and a big risk-taker.
Last year (in 2016), Subhash Chandra released his autobiography ‘The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time’. It’s a must-read for anyone to get under the skin of one of the world’s most dynamic media leader.
Very few others in the media have seen the ups and downs that he has probably seen. After being a darling of the stockmarkets and the Indian viewing public, Zee’s stock fell – in every possible way. In the early 2000s, the Economic Times would have a story virtually every other dialing quoting some regulatory irregularity.
But Subhash Chandra, minus the Goel that he dropped in the late 1980s, wasn’t going to be down for too long.
In 2005, after hiring Pradeep Guha from The Times of India group, he stitched up a joint venture with the Dainik Bhaskar group to launch a newspaper called DNA. PG, as Guha is popularly called, and the Bhaskar group’s Agarwals ensured that the paper had a high profile launch. That the Times of India improved its offering several times over, launched Mumbai Mirror and Hindustan Times too kicked off a Mumbai edition may have been dampeners, but DNA didn’t take too long to establish itself.
I was fortunate to be part of the DNA editorial team for a bit, though often felt the strains of a newspaper with too many people at the helm – owners and top management.
Much after I had left DNA and the Bhaskar group, I learnt that Subhash Chandra had assumed charge of DNA. There were several exits around that time, and one feared there would be instability after that. But that didn’t happen, although the editor changed and the paper dropped the editorial page. The DNA has continued to see many changes, many CEOs and many editors.
Flagship channel Zee has seen its ups and downs. From a clear #1 in the 1990s to losing its leadership first to Sony and later for a long, long time to Star Plus, Zee has come back and attained strength in the GEC space.
Post Kaun Banega Crorepati in 2000, Zee was hit badly. It produced a dud in Sawaal Dus Crore Ka to combat KBC. All those who backed the network had fallen in love with the new Star. Not for too long, as Subhash Chandra’s team picked up the pieces and steadily started inching up. And then Colors happened in 2008, pushing Zee down again. However, soon after his channel had turned #1 the then Colors CEO Rajesh Kamat told me that more than Star Plus, his team and he were watching Zee very closely. Its fictions and reality shows had promise.
Which it did. Cut to 2017, although there’s been a see-saw in the Hindi GEC space and Star Plus and Colors have dominated the ratings roster, but over the last few months Zee has got back to the top slot. Post the release of ratings for rural audiences, Zee Anmol has also been doing rather well. It’s indeed happy days for Zee as it celebrates its 25th anniversary on October 2.
Credit for this goes to Chandra’s son and Managing Director and CEO Punit Goenka who has led the network very effectively. Zee Media Corporation Ltd, the company managing the news channels, has There are various genres Zee is in, but its channels aren’t much to talk about. Zee News has a new CEO, but it will need to do loads to turn #1. Ditto with the various other channels – Zee Music, Zee Smile, Zee Studio. Zee Cafe has tried to create a bang with more recent seasons of popular shows, but the niche channels require some attention from Goenka (See interview). Chandra’s second son – Amit Goenka – manages the international business which again has been growing very rapidly.
His leadership team has an interesting mix… Other than Punit and Amit Goenka, there are: Bharat Kedia (CFO), M. Lakshminarayanan (Company Secretary & Compliance), Praveer Priyadarshi (Chief People Officer), Punit Misra (CEO, Broadcast), Rajneesh Mittal (CTO) and Sunil Buch (Zee Live & Talent, Head – Corporate Brand & Communications)
Goenka’s leadership has also brought with it much camaraderie with Star India and its CEO Uday Shankar, and this is one reason why there has been little infighting amongst the various entertainment broadcast major.
Until a few years back, Zee lacked buzz-creating content. But no longer. DID has been putting up a blockbuster performance every year. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa continues to rock ratings. Zee didn’t come up with anything like Satyamev Jayate, but it chose not to be a me-too.
At times like these when celebration is in the air, it’s not uncommon to gloss over a company’s various failures. But rather than blips, I would look at these as the network’s strength to have in Subhash Chandra a promoter who has been willing to take risks.
Although I wouldn’t report on media in 2000-01, I am told the proposals for Kaun Banega Crorepati and some of the top-rated Balaji soaps were rejected by Zee.
Chandra started EL TV (no marks for guess where that name came from) at a time when he thought he could replicate the flagship’s success with a second GEC. That didn’t happen, and EL metamorphosed to Zee India TV and later Zee News. Yet another attempt to look at the younger, urban set with Zee Next in late 2007 survived for less than a year. Zee’s radio foray was still-born and attempts to publish TV and film magazines didn’t work.
Zee had much failure in bidding for cricket rights, including the World Cup. Despite his bid being the highest, Chandra lost out which many agreed was unfair to the media baron. In 2007, buoyed with India winning the T20 World Cup and the success of the 20-over format, and anguished with the ways of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Zee set up the Indian Cricket League. While the ICL took off, it never gained ground as key cricketers of the day were not allowed to participate for the tournament was dubbed ‘unofficial’. Chandra gave up after a protracted fight with the BCCI as the ICL became meaningless post the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Zee has now permanently exited the sports arena, but, then, as any Zee-watcher will tell you, you never know with Subhash Chandra. Chandra is now a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, with his allegiance to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but with very close friends in other political dispensations.
Twenty-five years on, how would I rate Zee’s performance? A 9 or 10 on 10 for the spirit of enterprise and growing the industry. Too many leadership changes may have not given the company stability, but as Chandra once told me, the only reason why he’s had to move CEOs out is because of non-performance. And he shouldn’t be faulted for that. The ousted CEOs naturally have another story, but as mentioned earlier, almost everyone who has been associated with the network plus his business rivals and peers recognise Subhash Chandra and Zee’s tremendous contribution to Indian broadcasting.
Three cheers to that!
Adapted from an article by me published on MxMIndia in October 2012