GECs

ZEE TV: NO RATINGS, NO SWEAT – YOUR TIME WILL COME

Published

25 years ago

September 7, 2001

The latest TAM ratings are out. And the entire industry is agog about one revelation: not one of Zee TV’s new shows figures on the Top 100 list. Old diehards such as Mehandi Tere Naam Ki (65), Amanat (74) and Koshish Ek Aasha (99) are Zee TV’s candidates in The Top 100.

There is some sniggering about this amongst rival broadcasters and producers, who are saying we told you. The question is: why the excitement about this development or non-development?

No one at indiantelevision.com expected Zee TV’s new shows to spring up in the Top 10, let alone the Top 100, overnight. And we don’t think anyone at Zee TV expected it either. There are enough professionals within that organisation that understand the television business and the fact that programmes grow on audiences and audiences on programmes. A Kaun Banega Crorepati happens probably once in a lifetime. And expecting a repeat is like expecting sextuplets every time you go for delivery in the maternity home.

Indiantelevision.com is of the view that Zee TV’s new shows should be given at least another six weeks to stabilise and generate the ratings (if the ratings systems are allowed to continue). (The channel’s management has said the new shows will run their 13-26 episodic run).

We expect at least four of the new shows – we cannot predict which because all that depends on the marketing and promotion push that Messrs Goyal and Sinha give – to pop up in The Top 50 in the time frame predicted.

But for that to happen some course correction may be needed. According to indiantelevision.com, there appears to be a disconnect between the new Zee TV brand promise and the delivery that is being made in terms of new programmes.

(When Sony Entertainment Television was launched it had very clear communications, which it lived up to for quite some time. It was the innovator: it had a young feel, new programming genres, new initiatives, it had snazzy packaging, and it came as a breath of fresh air. Hence, it succeeded. As did Zee TV when it launched in the time of DD.

A year ago, Star Plus did to Zee TV and Sony what a Zee TV and Sony Entertainment did to DD and Zee TV respectively in their time. And the duo has not been able to find a counter to Star Plus. For the past year, both Zee TV and Sony have been strangely behaving like imitators; they appear to have stopped innovating.)

One school of thought in industry is that the communications around the Zee TV brand need to be improved; the programming is wow.

The other school of thought is that programming needs to be spruced up.

The school which believes that Zee TV’s communication needs correction question its very basis.

What is the new Zee TV brand all about?

A lovely young lass – represents the new Zee TV brand. She is fresh as dew, she is pretty, she is vivacious, she is playful, she is charming, she is dimpled, she likes kids – one could go on.

But can she on her frail frame hoick Zee TV out of the rut it has been stuck in for some time now? Nahin dekha Zee to kya dekhenge nayee Zee TV ka message?

More push is needed for specific shows – more specifically large scale canvas dramas and soaps (for example, why is not Sudha Murthy’s Dollar Bahu being promoted as a show based on a book written by India’s most innovative software entrepreneur’s wife. Or Aaj Bhi Ateeth, Hip, Hip Hooray Series 2) that live up to the promise made by the new Zee TV lass. Zee TV was known for well-told stories (at times long-winded ones though); for Antakshari, for Khana Khazana, original Indian programming. The new shows seem to have good stories and hence they hold promise.

One has not seen enough of the Zee TV game shows – Baazee Kiski or Niilaam Ghar – to give a verdict on whether they should be pushed.

The push has to be a determined one across media. A budget of Rs 10 crore (or is it Rs 15 crore?) has been set aside for this purpose. Let’s see effective spending of that.

The second school of thought questions the basics of some of Zee TV’s programmes. Do most Indians want to watch cross-continental shows? Or is it a microcosm that wants such programming? Will these shows work well with Zee TV’s audiences in Europe and the US? They well may but production values have to be stepped up for those audiences. Additionally, will Indians in interior Maharashtra or Varanasi indentify with them? There is a big question mark there.

Most importantly, Zee TV has to spruce up on its programme packaging and promos. Today, channels have to have a great feel and look about them. Sony Entertainment, Star, HBO, ESPN and Star Sports, Channel 9 have spoilt Indian viewers over the past three or years with their international feel. A slick environment in which they watch their shows is something audiences are demanding as they are not buying just programmes; they are hooking on to the whole package.

Most of the promos look tacky; many shows have signatures that lack class and finesse; the shows themselves are running short on production values; technically, the audio and video standards are not up to the mark.

Star /Sony/Channel Nine treat every promo on their channels as an ad for the programme they are promoting; that effort seems to be lacking with Zee TV. A promo is a filler for its programming tem; very little creative input seems to be going into it. Today, television audiences have to be teased, lured and retained, continuously and consistently.

The Zee TV girl promo manages to do that. The hoardings featuring her are fab; but the same attention to detail has not been paid to the channel. An attempt has been made to come up with a new channel ID but it seems half-hearted. There is nothing memorable about the new logo and ID; they do not evoke emotions like the ones of HBO, Star Plus, Nine Gold or Sony. Go all the way Zee folks; retain the values of the logo but make it snazzy; even the BBC logo has evolved over the years.

If the values presented in Zee girl promo are taken as a standard and replicated across the channel, it could do wonders for it.

And a couple of months down the line, the past year may seem just a memory.

ANIL WANVARI,
CEO, INDIANTELEVISION.COM

Related Topics:Amanat DD HBO indiantelevision Kaun Banega Crorepati Koshish Ek Aasha Mehandi Tere Naam Ki Sony Star Sudha Murthy

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ZEE TV: NO RATINGS, NO SWEAT – YOUR TIME WILL COME

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GECs

Sun TV posts steady revenue, profit dips amid rising costs

Published

4 months ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CHENNAI: It appears there is still plenty of Sun to go around in the Indian broadcasting landscape, even if a few clouds have drifted across the financial horizon. Sun TV Network Limited, the Chennai-based behemoth that dominates airwaves across seven languages, has tuned into a steady frequency for the quarter ending 31 December 2025. While the numbers show a resilient revenue stream, the company’s latest broadcast reveals a few static-filled spots in its profit margins.

For the quarter in question, Sun TV’s total income climbed by approximately 3.31 per cent, reaching Rs 958.39 crores compared to Rs 927.66 crores in the same period last year. Revenue from operations also saw a healthy bump, rising 4.32 per cent to Rs 827.87 crores.

The real star of the show, however, was domestic subscription revenue, which surged by 8.86 per cent to Rs 472.99 crores. This growth highlights the enduring appetite for Sun’s diverse content, which spans everything from daily soaps in Tamil and Telugu to its burgeoning OTT platform, Sun NXT.

Despite the revenue growth, the picture quality of the profits was slightly blurred by rising costs. Eitda for the quarter stood at Rs 409.79 crores, a dip from the Rs 432.14 crores recorded in the corresponding 2024 quarter.

The profit after tax followed a similar downward trend, settling at Rs 316.44 crores against the previous year’s Rs 347.17 crores. Advertisers also seemed to have switched channels slightly, with advertisement revenues sliding to Rs 291.94 crores from Rs 332.17 crores.

Sun TV isn’t just playing on home turf; its sporting ambitions are becoming increasingly global. The network now owns three major cricket franchises: SunRisers Hyderabad in the IPL, SunRisers Eastern Cape in SA20, and SunRisers Leeds Limited in The Hundred (UK).

The foray into British cricket saw the company acquire a 100 per cent stake in Northern Superchargers Limited (now SunRisers Leeds) for approximately £100 million. While these franchises brought in Rs 14.61 crores this quarter, they also incurred corresponding costs of Rs 19.89 crores. Over the nine-month period, however, the cricket business is a major player, contributing Rs 487.64 crores in income.

The company’s bottom line took a minor hit from exceptional items, including a Rs 4.23 crore charge related to India’s new Labour Codes, which consolidated 29 existing labour laws. Additionally, the consolidated results reflect the amalgamation of Kal Radio Limited with Udaya FM, a move that became effective in May 2025 and required a restatement of previous figures.

To keep investors from reaching for the remote, the Board has declared an interim dividend of 50 per cent, that’s Rs 2.50 per equity share. This comes on top of earlier dividends of 100 per cent (Rs 5.00) and 75 per cent (Rs 3.75) declared in August and November 2025, respectively.

With a massive cash reserve and a dominant position in the South Indian market, Sun TV continues to shine, even if the current quarter required a bit of fine-tuning. For now, shareholders can sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

GECs

SPNI hires Pradeep M with responsibility for standards and practices in the south

Published

4 months ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India has hired Pradeep M to handle standards and practices for its southern market, bolstering its compliance bench as content rules tighten across platforms.

Pradeep, who has nearly 13 years in the entertainment media industry, takes on responsibility for content standards in a region that is both linguistically diverse and regulatorily sensitive. His brief spans television, OTT, sports and digital platforms.

He specialises in content review and compliance across shows, commercials, on-air promotions and international feeds, ensuring alignment with broadcast, OTT and advertising codes. He has also handled brand approvals and sponsorship integrations for heavily regulated categories—including online gaming, cryptocurrency, NFTs and lottery brands—offering guidance shaped by fast-evolving rules.

Before Sony, Pradeep worked at Jiostar as assistant manager for content regulation from November 2024 to January 2026. Earlier, he spent nearly seven years at Viacom18 Media, rising from senior executive to assistant manager in content regulation between 2018 and 2024. There he served as a key compliance touchpoint for the network.

His career began on the creative side. Between 2013 and 2018, he worked as executive producer on feature films and television shows, gaining hands-on exposure to production. He also had a stint as a non-fiction show director at Star TV Network in 2017. That mix of creative and regulatory experience gives him a dual lens—how content is made and how it must be managed.

As regulators, platforms and advertisers all tighten the screws, broadcasters are investing more in gatekeepers who can keep creativity within the lines. Sony’s latest hire shows where the industry is heading: in the streaming age, compliance is content’s quiet co-star.

GECs

Colors Gujarati rolls out two new shows from 2nd February

Published

4 months ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Colors Gujarati has unveiled two new prime-time shows as part of its push to strengthen culturally rooted storytelling for regional audiences. The channel will premiere the devotional saga Gangasati–Paanbai at 7.30 pm, followed by the romantic family drama Manmelo at 9.30 pm from February 2.

Inspired by Gujarat’s spiritual and literary heritage, Gangasati–Paanbai: Shyam Dhun No Navo Adhyay draws from the timeless bhajans and poetry of saint-poetesses Gangasati and Paanbai, weaving devotion and human values into a contemporary narrative aimed at younger viewers.

In contrast, Manmelo explores love and responsibility across social divides, tracing the lives of three middle-class sisters whose relationships with three affluent brothers reshape their futures. The show delves into ambition, emotional conflict and the realities of married life, offering a layered family drama.

A Colors Gujarati spokesperson said the new launches reflect the channel’s commitment to authentic Gujarati entertainment that blends cultural values with modern storytelling.