For protection against digital privacy, the Delhi high court has issued a “Dynamic+” John Doe order to ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. Without requiring repeated court approvals, this order will allow Zee to take action against websites that are unlawfully streaming its content, including films, TV series, and Zee OTT programming.
Interestingly, a John Doe order is a court order that permits an individual or organisation to pursue action against an unnamed person or group. “John Doe” serves as a stand-in for the unidentified individual who is being accused of misconduct. Under this arrangement, Zee can immediately alert internet service providers, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to block websites that violate the law as soon as they are discovered. As a result, anti-piracy measures can be enforced more quickly and without the delays that come with regular judicial procedures.
Piracy Protection to Zee’s Entire Entertainment Library
Beyond the customary emphasis on live events, the decision also extends protection against piracy to Zee’s whole entertainment collection. First, the court ordered 103 websites that were streaming Zee’s content without permission to be blocked. With the most recent Asia News International (ANI) lawsuit against Netflix and the creators of the show “Watch IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack” for claimed copyright and trademark infringement. The Indian entertainment industry has experienced an increase in copyright infringement claims recently.
ANI claimed in its appeal that the Netflix programme featured video of General Parvez Musharraf, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and other people without a licence. In other news, Zee cancelled the $1.4 billion TV sub-licensing agreement with Disney Star for the 2024–2027 International Cricket Council (ICC) competitions.
Dynamics of Dynamic+
To combat the “hydra-headed” nature of copyright infringement, the Delhi High Court introduced the Dynamic+ injunction in August 2023. The order, which was proposed by Justice Pratibha Singh, safeguards copyrighted works that have already been generated as well as those that have not yet been. Following lawsuits against 16 pirate websites by studios like Universal, Netflix, and Disney, the decision was made. Judge Singh underlined that disregarding these illegitimate websites hinders innovation and results in financial losses. The Dynamic+ order streamlines enforcement without requiring recurrent court filings by protecting future content, in contrast to typical dynamic injunctions that target existing infringements.
Justice Singh listed the traits of rogue websites, including anonymous ownership, repeated violations, and the hosting of unlawful advertisements. Some encouraged unapproved content sharing over Telegram, while others avoided earlier injunctions by using “alphanumeric variations.” Notably, websites with altered domains that had previously been prohibited in other instances, such as TamilMV and Vegamovies, resurfaced. These activities violated IT legislation by discouraging legitimate subscription models and profiting from advertisements. The court issued a thorough Dynamic+ order to stop these actions, siding fully with the studios.
In order to expedite the antitrust clearance process for their $8.5 billion merger of Indian media holdings, Reliance and Walt Disney have reportedly offered to sell some channels. However, they are reportedly fighting any adjustments made to the cricket broadcast rights that they own.
With a combined 120 TV channels and two streaming services, the Reliance-Disney merger, which was announced in February, is sure to be closely watched by antitrust experts. This is because it will result in creating India’s largest entertainment platform, locking horns directly with Sony, Netflix, Amazon, and Zee Entertainment.
The Merger Will Have an Upper Hand
Many are worried about the combined business’s pricing power and its influence on advertisers, especially since Reliance, owned by Asia’s wealthiest man Mukesh Ambani, will own a majority stake in the combined entity. The combined company will also own valuable cricket broadcasting rights worth billions of dollars.
Reliance and Disney have informed the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that they are prepared to sell a small number of television channels (less than ten) in order to allay fears of market dominance and secure early clearance, after the watchdog’s secret requests for approximately one hundred questions pertaining to the merger. There are other stipulations that pertain to regional Indian language channels that the two firms might control.
This Is Not the First Time Such a Merger Is Happening
During the year 2022, Zee and Sony made an offer to sell three television stations in order to create a television behemoth in India that would be worth ten billion dollars. However, despite the fact that this helped them get clearance from the CCI, the merger ultimately failed.
The notification that was issued by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to approve that merger included information about the competitive landscape. The notification revealed that in the local language of Marathi, Disney and Reliance channels had a combined market share of between 65 and 75 per cent at that time. A market share of up to 50 per cent was held by the two with regard to Bengali language entertainment channels.
Cricketing Rights Play a Vital Role
Cricket is an additional area of disagreement in the merger procedure. In India, the sport has a devoted fan base, making the matches highly desirable for sponsors.
The Indian Premier League (IPL), the most prestigious cricket event in the world, and other major leagues’ digital and television cricket rights would be owned by Reliance-Disney.
So far, the CCI has not voiced any worries about the firms’ market strength in cricket rights, but the corporations have argued with the CCI that the rights cannot be sold at the moment because they expire in 2027 and 2028.
According to a report, the corporations are also worried that the approval process could be prolonged because the Indian cricket body would have to approve any sub-licencing of cricket rights.
YouTube, which was launched on February 14, 2005, is the most popular video platform worldwide. Headquartered at 901 Cherry Avenue San Bruno, California, United States, YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. Susan Wojcicki is the CEO and Chad Hurley is the Advisor.
There were 2.24 billion Youtube users worldwide in 2021, out of which 12% were men aged 25-34 years, and 9% were women aged 35-44. YouTube has over 2.1 billion viewers every month. It had $28.84 billion in ad revenues worldwide and its ad revenues as a share of Google’s total revenue was 11.2%. The share of global marketers using YouTube in 2021 was 52%.
YouTube Key Figures
Most viewed YouTube channel worldwide
Wiz Khalifa Music
Most subscribed YouTube beauty and style channel
Sandra Cires Art
Highest-paid YouTube star
Mr. Beast
Most viewed U.S. YouTube partner channel
Warner Music
Number of hours uploaded to YouTube every minute
500
Most viewed YouTube video of all time
Baby Shark Dance
Fastest video to reach 100 million YouTube streams
BTS ‘Butter” Official MV
Fastest viral video to reach 1 billion YouTube streams
Adele – Hello
Leading Countries Based on YouTube Audience Size as of April 2022
Here is the list of the most subscribed and popular YouTube channels so far.
T Series is a YouTube channel that is concentrated on music. T-series is the most viewed and most subscribed YouTube Channel. It has 232 million subscribers and over 209 billion views.
Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes
Cocomelon is an American YouTube channel. They are known for their 3D videos of traditional nursery rhymes as well as their rhymes for children. The channel has 150 million subscribers.
SET India
SET India is an Indian-based YouTube channel. They post videos in Hindi. The channel concentrates on entertainment. SET India has 149 million subscribers.
MrBeast
MrBeast is the YouTube channel of Jimmy Donaldson. He is an American YouTuber, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. His genre includes comedy, entertainment, and gaming. His YouTube channel has 125 million subscribers.
Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg (PewDiePie)
PewDiePie is a Swedish YouTuber. His channel has 111 million subscribers. It is an entertainment channel mostly known for its gaming and comedies.
Kids Diana Show
Kids Diana Show is a YouTube channel that focuses on kids. The Ukrainian-based YouTube channel has 106 million subscribers.
Like Nastya
Like Nastya is a YouTube channel hosted by a Russian YouTuber. It is the single most viewed channel owned by a YouTuber. The YouTube channel posts videos on entertainment for children, and has 103 million subscribers.
WWE
WWE is an American-based YouTube channel. It comes under the category of sports and the channel posts videos on wrestling. WWE has 92.4million subscribers.
Vlad and Niki is a YouTube channel that features two brothers. It is the English Channel that concentrates on the entertainment sector. The YouTube channel has 91.9 million subscribers.
Zee Music Company
Zee Music Company is an Indian YouTube channel. It comes under the subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. The channel posts Hindi videos and has 91 million subscribers.
Blackpink
Blackpink is a YouTube channel formed by YG entertainment. It is a South Korean YouTube channel with a girl group. They concentrate on the music sector and their YouTube channel has 83.6 million subscribers.
Goldmines telefilms
Goldmines telefilms is an Indian film company that specializes in dubbing movies. Goldmines telefilms have 80.3 million subscribers on its YouTube channel.
5-Minute Crafts
5-Minute Crafts is a YouTube channel which is owned by The Soul Publishing. They concentrate on DIY, life hacks, how-to videos, etc. The YouTube channel has 78.2 million subscribers.
Sony SAB is an Entertainment channel. This Indian has over 75.3 million subscribers. The contents of this channel are in Hindi.
BangtanTV
BangtanTV is a South Korean Music channel with over 72.6 million subscribers. The primary language of this channel is Korean.
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber is one of the most popular Singers. He is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His YouTube channel has 70.7 million subscribers.
Hybe Labels
Hybe Labels is a South Korean YouTube channel which is owned by Hybe Corporation. They have a collection of videos on music and the most famous music video of Hybe labels is Dynamite with over 1.6 billion views. The YouTube channel has 69.3 million subscribers.
Canal KondZilla
Canal KondZilla is the largest YouTube channel in Brazil and Latin America. He is a Brazilian YouTuber who is a screenwriter and director. His YouTube channel has 66.3 million subscribers.
Zee TV
Zee TV is a YouTube channel which is owned by the Essel Group in India. They post entertainment-based videos in Hindi. The YouTube channel has 65million subscribers.
Pinkfong is a South Korean educational channel. It has over 63.6 million subscribers. The primary language of this channel is English.
Dude Perfect
Dude Perfect is an American YouTube channel. They are mostly concentrated on sports and comedy. Their YouTube channel contains sports-related videos. The YouTube channel has 58.5 million subscribers.
Movieclips
Movieclips is an American YouTube channel. They offer trailers and streaming videos of movie clips from various Hollywood film companies. The YouTube channel has 58.4 million subscribers.
Marshmello
Marshmello is the official name of Christopher Comstock. He is an American electronic music producer and DJ. His YouTube channel has 56.1 million subscribers.
Conclusion
The above list of the top YouTube channels around the globe is based on the subscriber number in 2022. You can find some of the best and most popular content in the list.
FAQs
Which is the most subscribed YouTube channel?
With over 232 million subscribers, T-Series is the most-subscribed channel so far.
Which is the most-viewed YouTube video?
With over 12 billion views, Baby Shark Dance is the most-viewed YouTube video, followed by Despacito (8.05 Bn views).
Who is the highest-paid YouTube star?
Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast is the highest-paid YouTube star in 2022.
Who is India’s No 1 YouTuber?
As per this report, Ajey Nagar, a popular comedy content creator, and gamer popularly known as CarryMinati is the top individual YouTuber from India.
Which are the most-subscribed Youtube channels?
Here is the list of the top 10 most-subscribed Youtube channels:
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Zee Media.
What is life without media and entertainment? Our lives would become so mundane if we didn’t have a pinch of entertainment and news to ponder over what is happening around the world.
The media and entertainment industry is sure booming and with all the right sense to the given latest technological advances and trends. It is not something that the industry would change so much but, it is up to the people and the way they watch these media channels.
In this article, we are going to read all about Zee Media, which is India’s leading entertainment and news network. A part of the multibillion-dollar Essel Group, Zee Media.
To know more about the company, let’s explore their startup story and growth, founders and team, investors, the challenges faced by them, business and revenue model, competitors, and their plans.
Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) formerly known as Zee News Limited is the news broadcasting company of the Essel Group. It is one of the leading media and entertainment companies that has a very strong presence in the news and regional entertainment channels. The majority of the content that the company airs on satellite television channels uplinked from India is news, current affairs, and regional entertainment shows.
The company has a wide variety of news channels under the brand name Zee which includes the English news channel WION. Zee Media also operates the ZEE5 distribution platform.
Zee Media – Industry
Zee Media belongs to the Entertainment and media industry. As per authentic reports, India Media and Entertainment industry is estimated to reach $30.9 bn by 2024.
Zee Media – Startup story and Growth
The company was initially incorporated as Zee Sports Ltd, founded by the Essel Group (also known as Zee Group) in 1999. The Group was originally founded as the Messrs Ramgopal Indraprasad in 1926 by Jagannath Goenka. His grandson Subhash Chandra later expanded the company and renamed it Essel Group.
Zee Sports Ltd was reincorporated as Zee News Ltd. on 27th May 2004. Later after nine years, the name was changed to Zee Media Corporation Limited.
Zee Media had partnered with Dainik Bhasker Group to publish its newspaper known as the Daily News & Analysis, but to insufficient profit, the publication of the newspaper was stopped. Additionally, the company operates the Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA), which is owned by Zee Learn, the Essel Group’s educational division.
Formerly known as Zee News Limited, the Zee Media Corporation was a division of Zee Telefilms Ltd, later renamed Zee Entertainment Enterprises. In 2006, it was separated from the Essel Group as a standalone business.
It was in 1992 when the Essel Group started taking a lot of stake in the entertainment industry, also the year when it incorporated Zee Telefilms Ltd.
Fast forward to 2006, Zee Telefilms Ltd was divided into three entities by Essel: Zee News Ltd, the group’s news broadcasting division; Wire & Wireless India Ltd (later called Siti Networks), the cable division; and Zee Telefilms Ltd, the direct consumer broadcasting division. Zee Telefilms Ltd was renamed Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd less than a year after it was founded.
Zee Media – Key People
Zee Media was founded by the Essel Group. The group was founded by Subhash Chandra Goel
Subhash Chandra Goel
Subhash Chandra- Chairman of the Essel Group
Subhash Chandra, the grandson of Jagannath Goenka is the person who started the Essel Group. He is the Chairman of the Essel Group, and also the Chairman of Zee media but resigned in 2016. He is a member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.
Subhash was born in Haryana. He never got to complete his schooling because of a lack of money. He started his career by joining the family business of commission agents and supplying rice to the Food Corporation of India.
Subhash has won awards like International Emmy Directorate Award (2011), and Canada India Foundation, Chanchlani Global Indian Award (2016).
Jawahar Goel
Jawahar Goel-Chairman of Essel Group
Jawahar Goel is the younger brother of Subash Chandra Goel, the chairman of the Essel Group. Jawahar is the editor-in-chief of the Zee Media network. He is also the Chairman of the media network’s ‘Editorial Governing Council’. Besides this, Goel played as the Managing Director of Dish TV but has recently stepped down from the role. He has worked with companies like the London Stock Exchange Group, Systematix Shares & Stocks, and more.
Zee Media – Mission and Vision
The company’s mission is to become the world’s global media company. Its vision is mainly about Customer Focus, Excellence, Integrity, Creativity, and Growth Driven.
Zee Media – Name, Tagline, and Logo
The name of Zee Media as mentioned early was known as Zee News Limited. It was in 2013, that the company was renamed.
Zee Media – Business Model
Zee Media operates its business through various channels some of them in regional-based languages to reach every Indian.
Zee Kannada News – 2022 (Kannada) Available only on digital platform
Zee Malayalam News – 2022 (Malayalam) Available only on digital platform
Zee Tamil News – 2022 (Tamil) Available only on digital platform
Zee Telugu News – 2022 (Telugu) Available only on digital platform
Zee Odisha News – 2022 (Odia) Available only on digital platform
The Zee Media Corporation Limited also has its presence on digital platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. The company also has its websites for particular business activities:
Zee Media Corporation
Zee News Website
Zee5 Website
WION Website
India.com
Zee Media – Revenue Model
Recently the Zee company under its flagship company Zee Studios, its movie business was the production house for the movie “The Kashmir Files”. The company earned a lot of profit from the success of the movie. The success of the movie alone has about the company a revenue of about Rs 2,000- 2,500 crore.
This fiscal year, Zee studios itself has been a bigger contributor to the company’s revenue growth.
Although Zee Media generated its revenue from Zee Studios this year, most of its earnings are from Zee News.
Zee News is one of the oldest channels owned by the Essel Group. It has a wide variety of regional news channels. One of the biggest sources of income it gets is from its own YouTube channel. A channel is monetised on YouTube only when it has a minimum of 1000 subscribers. YouTube pays a channel if the channel crosses over 4000 watch hours. In this case, the Zee News YouTube channel has 21.2 million subscribers with 169.89 million views each month. The total net worth of Zee News Channel itself is estimated to be around $40.77 million.
Zee Media – Challenges and Controversy
Zee Media Corporation Limited goes through many challenges as the company runs news channels, which attracts controversies and challenges. The company was involved in spreading wrong and fake news through its Hindi medium channels called Zee News, which landed the company in many controversies and arguments.
In 2020, Nepal Government banned Zee News for charges of defaming the Nepal government.
Zee Media – Mergers and Acquisition
Zee Media and Sony Merger
In December 2021, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) merged with Sony Pictures Networks India. The revenue of both companies is around Rs 14,000 crore, which makes the country’s second-largest media firm.
Punit Goenka, who is the CEO and managing director of ZEEL, will lead the merged company.
Zee Media – Online and Social Media Presence
Zee Media is very active and has a strong social media presence through platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Its social media pages of the network have around 77 million followers.
Zee Media – Social Media Campaigns
In 2022, Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) launched one of the biggest elections campaigns on its opinion poll exercise. This campaign was aimed to create awareness and have an interactive session with its audience to increase engagement. Due to this campaign, the Zee News Channel on YouTube saw a 68% increase in viewership.
The marketing head of Zee Media, Anindya Khare says,
“News viewers had stopped believing in the numerous opinion polls conducted around elections simply because it wasn’t representational enough. Our extensive activity and research helped us with this insight, and at ZEE Media we used our resources to create the biggest opinion poll of the election season, with the largest sample size ever. We have created a comprehensive, genuine, and transparent opinion poll in the history of elections and regained the trust of the viewers.”
Zee Media – Competitors
The company competes with other news channels, such as:
SudhirChaudhary is an Indian journalist and former CEO of Zee News. He became popular after his tv show DNA (Daily News and Analysis). Sudhir Chaudary’s journey started as a journalist on Zee television. He joined Zee News in 1993 at the early stage of Zee television. He worked on other channels like live television reporting and then 24 hours news television.
One Important aspect of Sudhir Chaudhary’s life as he was part of a crew who went on a task of coverage of the Vajpayee–Musharraf Indo-Pak meeting in Islamabad, after the Indian Parliament attack happened in 2001 and also the Kargil war too.
Chaudhary resigned again from Zee News in July 2022. Sudhir Chaudhary conveyed to Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra in his resignation letter saying that his decision was a “result of my internal deliberations” to “start my own enterprise”.
There were rumours that the DNA host is going to start his own venture but Sudhir joined Aaj Tak as a consulting editor.
After completing his BA, Chaudhary prepared for the UPSC exam as he aimed to become a civil servant. He hadn’t gotten off the exam so went on to pursue a diploma in journalism and started his career with Zee television in 1993.
Sudhir Chaudhary – Career
Chaudhary has been working in the television news industry since 1993. He belongs to the first generation of television journalists. Sudhir Chaudhary when speaking at TED Talks explained the story of how news channels have evolved.
Sudhir Chaudhary at TEDx
The first television channel Doordarshan started a 5 min news bulletin and then Zee television the news channel and how hard he and his team struggled to get the news travelling to various places and putting a lot of effort into gathering the news to run the show. He was in live television reporting and also worked in India 24.
In 2003, he left Zee news and played a key role in the launching of Sahara Samay, the Hindi-language news channel of the Sahara group. He also joined India TV for a brief time. In 2012, he rejoined Zee News, where he hosts the news show Daily News & Analysis (DNA).
The news show Daily News & Analysis (DNA) became the highest-rated TRP show in the country in news television history. Although the show had many rumours that Sudhir Chaudhary manipulated the proof of many issues.
Chaudhary resigned again from Zee News in July 2022 to join Aaj Tak as a consulting editor.
Sudhir Chaudhary in Aaj Tak Office
Sudhir Chaudhary – Controversies
Naveen Jindal Case
One of the biggest allegations faced by Chaudhary was 100 crore money extortion from Mp Naveen Naveen Jindal. The issue follows this way, in the year 2012 Chaudhary and Zee business editor Samir Ahulwlia was alleged to extortion of ₹100 crores from his company in exchange for dropping stories that linked Naveen Jindal former Mp and Jindal Steel chairman.
Jindal had also mentioned that he had handed over 14 min footage to the media and adding to it he stated “The government gives channels a licence to show news. They are not given a licence for extortion or blackmail.” On filing FIR by Jindal the police arrested both the head of Zee and were put in Tihar jail for 14 days and later on released on Bail.
Dhulagarh Riots
In the year 2016, Zee News and Sudhir Chaudhary faced another issue which was due to the Dhulagarh riots. Although the riots were happening for many days the West Bengal government did not allow any media to showcase the issue to the country and the state too. The government believed that it increases the issues even more but Zee News covered the riots and a case was filed against Sudhir Chaudhary, cameraman Tanmay Mukherjee and correspondent Pooja Mehta by the Bengal government.
Jihad Chart Controversy
Even in 2020, Sudhir Chaudhary went to a controversial issue telecasting a ‘jihad chart’ in his DNA episode. The issue went into a non-bailable case under section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief). The issue is Chaudhary spoke about the anti-muslim conspiracy which came on Facebook against the minorities in 2014 from an unknown website.
Adding to this Sudhir Chaudhary faced many controversies in the continuing year.
Sudhir Chaudhary – Awards
In the year 2013 Sudhir Chaudhary won a Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism in the “Hindi broadcast” category. He won the award for interviewing the December 16 gang-rape victim.
In 2022 Sudhir Chaudhary was awarded the most trusted CEO award in the Idea fest 2022.
FAQs
Who is Sudhir Chaudhary’s wife?
Sudhir Chaudhary is married to Niti Chaudhary.
What is the salary and net worth of Sudhir Chaudhary?
The salary of Sudhir Chaudhary is 25 lakh per month and his total net worth is 3 million dollars.
One of India’s most renowned commercial organizations, Essel Group or the Zee Group, has a broad portfolio of assets in media, marketing, entertainment, enterprise solutions, infrastructure projects, and academia. This conglomerate, which has its headquarters in Mumbai, has distinguished itself in the Indian media sector. Popularly known as Zee, the business is a household name in itself.
The current business sectors of Essel Group are TV broadcasting, publishing, filmmaking, science and technology, manufacturing, infrastructure, academia, valuable metals, healthy living, potash mining, financial services, oil and gas, and nuclear energy, and these are only a few examples.
About Essel Group
Speaking of the history of the Essel Group, it has its roots attached to the pre-independence era. It was founded in 1926 as a commodity trading and export company called Rama Associates Limited.
Ever since, it has transformed into a conglomerate that is a representation of the creativity and strength of Indian entrepreneurship, with overseas operations and a workforce of close to around ten thousand devoted workers all over the nation.
Today, one of the major business areas of Essel Group is Zee Media Corporation. Zee News Limited was the previous name of Zee Media Corporation Limited. It is one of the biggest television news networks in India, offering coverage of both the national and local news. The organization created Zee TV, the first satellite channel ever broadcast in the nation.
It features around 19 news channels nationwide in eight different languages and is run by Subhash Chandra. Dish TV India Ltd., a distribution network, is also present. Zee Media also produces films and videos and manages ZIMA, the Zee Institute of Media Arts, a film school. Shares representing 30.89% of the company are available for trading on the stock exchange. The Essel Group of enterprises owns the remaining 69.11 percent of the shares.
Let us now talk about the different channels owned by Zee Media.
Zee News is one of the most popular news channels in India at present. It was launched in the year 1999 and today it primarily focuses on Hindi media and has turned out to be one of the most controversial news giants.
2. Zee Hindustan
Launched: 2017
Language: Hindi
Zee Hindustan Logo
Zee Hindustan is one such unique channel without any news anchor or presenter. It was revamped in the year 2018. The motive behind this was to show the real voices and opinions of the Indian masses through unique shows.
3. Zee Business
Launched: 2005
Language: Hindi
Zee Business Logo
Zee Business, as the name suggests, is mainly engaged in the broadcasting of business-related day-to-day affairs. With its insightful debates on the finance and economy of the country with great business personalities, the channel has been growing ever since.
4. Zee 24 Ghanta
Launched: 2007
Language: Bengali
Zee 24 Ghanta Logo
Zee 24 Ghanta is one of the most popular Bengali TV channels. Zee 24 Ghanta focuses on the overall news and shows happening in and around West Bengal.
5. Zee Kannada
Launched: 2006
Language: Kannada
Zee Kannada Logo
Zee Kannada is Zee Network’s extension to the Kannada media. The channel deals with all the affairs happening in and around. It was launched back in the year 2006 and has been unstoppable.
6. Zee 24 Taas
Launched: 2007
Language: Marathi
Zee 24 Taas Logo
Maharashtra, the state of the financial capital of India is one of the most important affairs of India and so is Zee 24 Taas which is broadcasted in Marathi primarily for the people of Maharashtra.
7. Zee 24 Kalak
Launched: 2017
Language: Gujarati
Zee 24 Kalak Logo
Similarly, Zee 24 Kalak is Zee Networks’ extension of its channels in Gujarat. The channel is quite famous in the cities of Gandhinagar Ahmedabad,, etc, and is growing in the whole of Gujarat.
8. Zee Odisha
Launched: 2014
Language: Odia
Zee Odisha Logo
Zee Odisha is Zee Networks’ extension of broadcasting the Odia news in the region through this channel. The channel is quite popular in Orissa and enjoys excellent viewership.
9. Zee Rajasthan
Launched: 2013
Language: Hindi
Zee Rajasthan Logo
Zee Rajasthan is one of the most prominent news channels in Rajasthan and has been growing ever since it was launched. The channel enjoys great popularity in the state and often holds big events.
10. Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand
Launched: 2017
Language: Hindi
Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand Logo
Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand is Zee Networks’ extension of broadcasting the news related to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which were originally Uttar Pradesh at one point in time. The channel is quite popular in the region and enjoys great TRP compared to other regional channels of UP and Uttarakhand.
11. Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh
Launched: 2017
Language: Hindi
Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh Logo
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh got separated in the year 2000 but the states have always been integral parts of India and friendly neighbors as well. The channel Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh broadcasts the shows in the local languages of the concerned states and enjoys great TRP.
12. Zee Bihar Jharkhand
Launched: 2017
Language: Hindi
Zee Bihar Jharkhand Logo
Zee Bihar Jharkhand is Zee Networks’ extension of broadcasting the news related to the states Bihar and Jharkhand, which were originally Bihar through this channel. The channel is quite popular in the region and enjoys great TRP compared to other regional channels.
13. Zee Delhi NCR Haryana
Launched: 2022
Language: –
Zee Delhi NCR Logo
Delhi NCR and Haryana are bordering states and very often, the affairs of these states have always to do with each other’s welfare. Thus Zee Delhi NCR Haryana broadcasts the NCR and Haryana-related news on this channel and is considered one of the most successful regional TV channels.
14. Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal
Launched: 2013
Language: Hindi
Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal Logo
Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal are bordering states and very often, the affairs of these states have always to do with each other’s welfare. Thus Zee Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal broadcasts the related news and other TV shows on this channel and is considered one of the most successful regional TV channels.
15. WION
Launched: 2016
Language: English
Wion Logo
WION is one of the international news channels which has its presence spread overseas in countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, etc. It also is an integral part of the Essel Group and has been performing great in English news. It was launched in 2006.
16. Zee Salaam
Launched: 2010
Language: Urdu
Zee Salaam Logo
Zee Salaam, as the name suggests is the Urdu infotainment of the Zee Networks’. The main aim of the channel was to promote Urdu culture and practices; thus it was launched in 2010 and has been successful ever since.
17. Zee Malayalam
Launched: 2018
Language: Malayalam
Zee Malayalam Logo
Zee Malayalam is Zee Networks’ extension of broadcasting the Malayali news and shows in the region of Kerala state through this channel. The channel is quite popular in Kerala and enjoys excellent viewership.
18. Zee Tamil News
Launched: 2008
Language: Tamil
Zee Tamil News Logo
Zee Tamil mainly deals with the state of Tamil Nadu and broadcasts shows and news concerning the state.
19. Zee Telugu News
Launched: 2005
Language: Telugu
Zee Telugu Logo
Zee Telugu is one of the most prominent TV channels in the state of Telangana and the surrounding areas and has been growing ever since it was launched. The channel enjoys great popularity in the state and often holds big events.
Conclusion
We can see that with time Essel Group’s Zee Networks has spread its business to the whole of India. Today Zee TV rules over the Indian media. The secret ingredient behind this is the fact that they understood the people’s needs and love for their language. Thus the expansion in the regional languages helped the group grow to the pinnacles of glory, where they are today.
On September 22, the board of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) accepted a non-binding term sheet with Sony Pictures Networks India to consolidate their businesses, with Sony’s promoters investing Rs 11,615 crore ($1.57 billion) in the merged entity as growth capital, making it India’s most extensive entertainment network with approximately $2 billion in revenues and a 26% viewership share. The statement resulted in a 9.99 per cent increase in Zee stock.
Following the infusion of growth money, ZEEL shareholders own around 47 per cent of the combined company, while Sony India promoters own 53 per cent.
Zee-Sony Merger – Division of the Shares and Profits
Punit Goenka- CEO of ZEE
Based on the current anticipated equity values of ZEEL and Sony India, the stated merger ratio would have been 61.25 per cent in favour of ZEEL.
In exchange for current ZEEL backers and their affiliates pledging not to compete with the combined firm, Sony India’s promoters agreed to transfer roughly a 2% interest in the merged entity. The Subhash Chandra family would own 4% of the amalgamated business, which established India’s first private sector entertainment network, with the opportunity to grow their holding to 20%. The family liquidated their ZEEL shareholding to repay Rs 13,000 crore in loans from Indian banks for failed diversifications such as infrastructure projects.
While Sony’s promoters will have the right to appoint the majority of the board’s directors, Punit Goenka, ZEEL’s CEO and MD will lead the amalgamated firm.
The nomination compensation committee, the board of directors, and the shareholders of the combined firm must all approve Goenka’s appointment.
Sony Pictures N is attempting a deal with ZEE for the second time. SPN was one of the few shortlisted strategic investors with whom ZEE was negotiating to sell the promoters’ shareholding and infuse funds for development.
ZEE could not reach an agreement with a strategic investor in 2019 and was obliged to settle for a financial one due to a liquidity shortage. Even though most of the promoters’ debt had been paid off, the firm still needs development capital.
During the lockdown, ZEE was considering various funding possibilities, including loans, as it is a debt-free firm. However, the board of directors and promoters believe that a strategic investor will be the first choice.
According to those familiar with the situation, when the transaction with ZEE fell through owing to value issues, SPN attempted to combine with Viacom18. That contract fell through in October of last year, and SPN’s parent business began hunting for new partners, they added.
Due to the rough treatment of stockholders, the purchase was likely to face legal challenges, with the Subhash Chandra family receiving an extra 2.1 per cent stake from Sony promoters as a non-compete fee.
Zee-Sony Merger – Challenges Companies may confront
The merger conditions include a non-compete agreement between the ZEEL promoters and Sony Pictures Networks India, with the ZEEL promoters receiving an additional 2.1 per cent interest in the combined firm.
Obtaining ZEEL shareholders’ approval for the planned merger and the continuance of ZEEL’s MD and CEO as the head of the merging company for the next five years may also pose hurdles, considering the tense relationship between certain institutional owners of ZEEL and the ZEEL board.
However, the amalgamated entity’s planned structure’s board of Directors may assuage institutional shareholders’ worries. Because the Sebi Takeover Code exempts the acquisition of interest via a Scheme of Arrangement for amalgamation/merger, there will be no open offer for ZEEL shares.
The sale was accelerated when Invesco, one of ZEEL’s significant owners, requested an emergency general meeting within three weeks to remove Goenka. After proxy advice companies reported corporate governance issues in the business that ZEEL later funded, two directors, Manish Chokhani and Ashok Kurien resigned from the ZEEL board.
Zee-Sony Merger – How is it Beneficial for Both Companies?
Analysts estimate that the transaction will create a new media and entertainment powerhouse in India, with revenues of Rs 15,000 crore.
According to analysts, the deal is a strategic match since Sony is a big player in the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) market, mainly non-fiction. Zee is strong in movies of all genres and the regional GEC area. Zee has a 17% network viewing share, whereas Sony has a 10-12% share. As a result, it would be a solid strategic match in broadcast, digital, and content.
In terms of synergies, Sony is performing well in sports and mainstream GEC, but Zee has a high recall on regional genres, which Sony has less of or none of. Sony’s foreign repertoire would be available for ZEE to exploit and monetize.
With this acquisition, ZEE Entertainment’s corporate governance issues should be resolved, boosting investor trust. Both companies have a robust film library that can be exploited for OTT and TV offerings. The combined firm will be better positioned to compete with Disney on both the distribution and advertising fronts.
According to Zee’s annual report, its network in India connects over 3,000 brands with their customers.
According to ZEEL’s aggregated figures, the company made a profit of Rs 800 crore on revenues of Rs 7,730 crore in the fiscal year ending March this year.
In March 2020, Sony Pictures Network India made a profit of Rs 976 crore on revenues of Rs 5,846 crore, with cash on books of Rs 11,000 crore.
Following the announcement of the merger, ZEEL’s shares soared 32% to Rs 337 per share, valuing the company at Rs 32,378 crore.
ZEE and SPN are two of India’s most popular media and entertainment companies, having strong consumer appeal across genres, languages, and platforms. The combination of these two companies will bring together the media industry’s most powerful leadership teams, content creators, and high-quality series and film libraries, resulting in a combined content platform that can compete with domestic and global platforms while also accelerating the region’s digital transition.
FAQs
Is Sony and ZEE merging?
Zee had announced merger with Sony on September 22.
Who is the owner of Zee Entertainment?
News Corporation is the parent organization of Zee Entertainment and owns it.
Nitin Konde
