Zee TV

Logo

Parent Company

Zee Network

Category

Entertainment TV Channel

Sector

Media and Entertainment

Tagline/ Slogan

Ummed Se Saje Zindagi

USP

Wholesome family entertainment with wide variety of shows STP

Segment

Middle Class, Tier-I Tier-II cities

Target Group

Housewives, Family

Positioning

A family entertainment channel for everyone's viewing SWOT Analysis

1. High viewership ratings 2. Complete bouquet of channels 3. High subscription revenues 4. First private Hindi TV channel in India 5. Global presence 6. Started legacy of reality show by starting Antakshari 7. HD quality Strength 8. Pioneer of Cookery show on TV (Khana Khazana)

1. Lacking behind competition 2. Problem with attrition 3. Increase in operating costs 4. Unable to cope up with changes and likings of viewers despite of being the oldest pvt channel Weakness 5. Constantly dipping viewership 6. Shows mainly focus on drama between Saas-Bahu

7. Earlier shows such as Disney Hour used to easily grab attention of kids 8. Growth of Zee Network's own regional channel shifted focus from original Zee TV 9. Channel had given remarkable shows such as 'Phillips Top 10', 'Hum Paanch', 'Filmy Chakkar' etc. now unable to break the ground 7. Unnecessary importance is given to TRP

1. Weak and questionable method of judging viewership by TRP need not be given such high priority 2. Make some really good shows for kids especially on weekends as Zee Network does not have channel dedicated to kids 3. Can catch audience once more by giving genuine humour based programmes 4. Method of 'Once in a week show' can be reintroduce to break the ground and provide quality contents Opportunity 5. Renaissance of creativity is the key

1. Similarity of shows in all GECs Threats 2. New channels such as Colors able to grab #1 spot Competition

1.Star Plus 2.Sony Set Max Competitors 3.Colors

Strengths High viewership ratings: The channels of Zee Entertainment provide good content to the viewers and consequently enjoy high TRP ratings. Its flagship channel Zee TV (a general entertainment channel) had on an average approximately 20 shows in the Top 50 and 30 shows in the Top 100 across the GEC in the first quarter of FY08. It has an average channel share of 34%. The gap between Zee TV and the broadcasting leader Star Plus has been narrowing considerably with the improvement in the gross rating points (GRPs) of the latter. This has enabled the company to hike ad rates leading to a 31% YoY increase in advertisement rates. This also increases its bargaining power with the MSOs and DTH players. Complete bouquet of channels: Zee Entertainment offers a complete bouquet of channels to the viewers and MSOs and the DTH players. Besides its flagship channel 'Zee TV' which is a general entertainment channel, the company has offerings in news, comedy, music, sports and fashion. Further the other group company Zee News has a basket of regional channels and news channels. All these channels enjoy high viewership ratings, which make it necessary for the MSOs and the DTH players to offer them. Other broadcasters such as TV

18, NDTV are at present not offering a complete bouquet of channels, which reduces their bargaining power with the MSOs and the DTH players. High subscription revenues: Zee enjoys high subscription revenues from international as well as domestic subscribers. It is one of the few broadcasters enjoying such high subscription revenues, which cushions it from any slowdown in advertisement revenues. The company's broadcasting services reach out to more than 500 m people across the globe. The company beams its channels to over 120 countries through various distribution platforms. Zee generally receives subscription or licensing fees from the local cable operators and the DTH operators and it retains the advertising revenue it sells on its channels. Zee's principal broadcasting operations are, apart from India, in the USA, Canada, Caribbean, UK, Europe, Africa, Middle East and other parts of South Asia.

Weaknesses Lagging behind Star Plus: Its flagship channel 'Zee TV' is the number two channel lagging behind Star Plus though the gap between the two has narrowed down considerably. In the 10 pm to 11 pm slot Zee' s TRPs are less than that of Star Plus while Zee is the clear leader in the 5.00 pm to 8.30 pm time slot and 9 pm to 10 pm time slot. Zee is finding it difficult to garner more viewership ratings in the 10 pm to 11 pm time slot as Star's programmes telecast at this time are very popular. In themedia industry the leader gets a disproportionate share of revenues and thus the there is a wide gap between the ad rates of Star Plus and Zee TV. Problem of attrition: The attrition rate in the company has increased. NDTV, UTV, INX Media, TV 18- Viacom combine are planning to enter the Hindi General Entertainment space. Ashvini Yardi, Senior Vice President (Programming), resigned to join competitor Viacom TV 18 combine. Increase in operating costs: The content costs are increasing which is reflected by the fact that Balaji's realizations per hour are increasing even though its TRPs are falling. Besides this the employee costs are also increasing.

Opportunities: Benefit from the robust growth of the Entertainment and Media sector: The future of the entertainment industry will be decided on the interplay of a number of factors like consumerism, advertising spend, content, pricing, technology and regulation. According to the FICCI-PWC report on the entertainment and media industry it is estimated that the entertainment and the media industry is set to grow at a CAGR of 18% to reach an estimated size of Rs 1 trillion in 2011. The television industry revenues are expected to grow from the present size of Rs 191 bn to Rs 519 bn by 2011, implying a 22% CAGR over the next five years. Digitisation (rollout of CAS and DTH) means that cable penetration will increase from 70 m homes in 2006 to around 113 m homes by 2011. Subscription revenues are projected to be the key growth driver for the Indian television industry over the next five years. Subscription revenues will increase both from the number of pay TV homes as well as increased subscription rates. India's robust economic growth has an attractive proxy in its advertising industry. The ad spend is a mere 0.4% of the GDP compared to 1.4% in the U S. Advertising revenue of the television industry is projected to grow from Rs 66 bn in 2006 to Rs 123 bn by

2011. Thus Zee Entertainment has the opportunity to benefit from the projected robust growth of the media and entertainment industry. Threats: Slowdown in India's economic growth: Any slowdown in India's economic growth will reduce the demand for the advertiser's products, which may lead to a cut in their ad budgets. This will have a negative impact on its advertising revenues. Increased competition: The Hindi General Entertainment space will become very competitive with the entry of the TV 18 group, UTV, NDTV, INX Media. All these players though initially would make losses but are adequately funded and have a good management team at the helm to cause a potential dent in Zee's market share. A fall in Zee's TRP's will lead to a decline in its advertisement and subscription revenues. Slow rollout of CAS: The government may delay the rollout of CAS. The consumers may show some hesitation in opting for paid channels and many viewers may opt only for FTA channels. Both these factors may cause a dent in the subscription revenues of Zee TV. Declining viewership and revenue share of GEC channels: Zee Entertainment derives majority of its revenues and profits from the flagship channel 'Zee TV' which is a general entertainment channel. However the viewership and revenue share of GEC channels are seen on a declining trend while that of niche channels is increasing.
% Share of viewership Share of revenues Channel genre 2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005 GEC 42 33 34 53 47 39 Regional 42 41 36 16 20 24 Niches 16 26 30 31 33 37 English Entetainment 2 2 1 3 5 4 Child infotainment 2 3 4 1 2 3 Hindi movies 4 5 8 7 4 6 Music/ Lifestyle 1 2 2 2 2 3 News 2 5 7 13 10 12 Sports 5 9 8 5 10 9 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

Zee Television is the top pick for the year: Harendra Kumar
January 31, 2012 | ET Now

Shah Rukh Khan wins best actor Zee Cine Awards

January 15, 2011 | PTI

Zee Turner serves notice to DEN for non-payment of dues

August 29, 2009 | PTI

Buy Zee TV above Rs 185 with stoploss of Rs 177: Finquest

June 17, 2009 | ET Bureau

Colors pips Star Plus as top entertainment channel

April 17, 2009 | ET Bureau

Zee TV regains second slot in Hindi viewership space

December 27, 2008 | Leena Mulchandani , ET Bureau

Colors a fear factor for Star Plus, other channels slip

October 10, 2008 | Sonali Krishna , ET Bureau

Shemaroo inks $6.6 mn satellite deal with Zee TV

December 30, 2007 | PTI

Star losing its twinkle to Zee

July 25, 2007 | Sonali Krishna , TNN

Zee launches Gujarati channel in UK

April 7, 2005 | PTI

Zee Telefilms: A Transition Television as a mode of communication was introduced in the Indian market wayba ck in 1959 on an experiment a l basi s .D o o r d a r s h a n , a g o v e r n m e n t - o w n e d channel was formed in 1976 and monopoly r i g h t s w e r e g r a n t e d o v e r t e r r e s t r i a l b r o a d c a s t i n g . I n 1 9 9 1 , w i t h t h e privatisation of the broadcasting rights, the Indian Cable and Satellite industry saw the entry of many players. One such player was Zee Telefilms Limited which started i t s o p e r a t i o n i n 1 9 9 2 . T h e c h a n n e l enjoyed the pr ivi l ege of be ing the f i r s t

private player to go on air. The channel f a c e d c omp e t i t i o n f r om o t h e r c h a n n e l s such as Sony Entertainment, Star network, e t c w h o w e r e a l s o b u i l d i n g o n t h e i r strengths. In 2003, Zee reached around 32 mi l l ion home s in Indi a and a round 225 m i l l i o n p e o p l e w o r l d w i d e . T h i s c a s e d i s c u s s e s o n t h e t r a n s i t i o n wh i c h t o o kplace in the company in the wake of the declining market share and to counter the c o m p e t i t o r s p r o g r a m m i n g s t r a t e g i e s . Further, the case discusses about Subash Chandra, chairman of Zee Telefilms and hi s int ent ions to make the channe l a s a family run business. Pedagogical Objectives The state of the Indian cable and satellite industry and the changing preferences of the customers The strategy of Zee to increase its TRP ratings in the wake of the competitors programming schedule The product extending activity of channel in order to lure the customers The challenges that the channel would face with the increase in the number of players entering the cable and satellite industry
Zee, an Essel Group5 company, launched Zee TV, the nation's first Hindi channel by a private organization. Zee TV evoked a massive positive response from Indian viewers, since it brought them a much wider choice of programs compared to Doordarshan. Zee TV's broadcast content ranged from film-based to educational programs. Zee's mass appeal was in direct contrast to Star (launched in 1991) which aired programs exclusively in English. Catering to the needs of the vast Hindi-speaking Indian audience, Zee TV's popularity grew by leaps and bounds during the period 1992 to 2000. Zee TV won The Economic Times' "The Emerging Company of the Year" award in 1998, for its remarkable success within 6 years of its launch. In the same year, Zee TV won the FICCI6 award for creativity in visual media. Within a span of 3 years (1998-2001), Zee TV expanded its network further, introducing a number of channels both in India and overseas. By 2004, Zee was a fully integrated media corporate with a major presence in TV programming, Films, Music, Print, Broadcasting, Internet Portals, Internet Service Provider (ISP) service, Events, Cable Distribution, DTO,

etc7. Zee channels had a viewer base of over 250 million across the globe. It operated in 5 continents across 120 countries8.

Zee's Initial Success

In October 1995, Sony Entertainment Television9(SET) made its entry into India. Star, which was launched in 1991, was also making an effort to attract larger numbers of the non-westernized Indian viewers. Zee had to come up with a new strategy to counter this competition. While Star and Sony were concentrating more on improving their programming content, Zee planned the launch of two channels dedicated to news and cinema, respectively. Zee had its action plan ready but it did not have the funds for expansion. It therefore entered into a partnership with Rupert Murdoch (Murdoch), the man behind Star, in 1995. With this deal Murdoch acquired a 50% stake in Zee. Once the Zee-Star deal was finalized, Zee launched the nation's first round-the-clock Hindi news Channel - Zee News and a Hindi movies channel - Zee Cinema. Zee News aired news every hour and its programs ranged from interviews with corporate personalities to discussions on the country's social and political issues...

Competition from Star and Sony

In September 1999, the Star and Zee partnership came to an end, and this left Star to go its own way. Sony, meanwhile, launched its sports-cum-movies channel "SET MAX" in 1999. Star tried its best to pull in the viewers. But the scene seemed uncertain for both Star and Sony, as all their efforts were not quite paying off...

Zee Fights Back

In order to compete with Star and Sony, Zee implemented a two-pronged strategy from September 2000 onwards. One element was to reform the programming content and the second was to redefine the prime time band (which was usually taken to run from 9 PM to 11PM) by extending the programming slots to 45 instead of the existing 30 minutes. Explaining these moves, R K Singh, chief executive officer of Zee Network, said that this initiative was a continuation of Zee's efforts to provide clean, wholesome family entertainment. Consequently in October 2000, Zee came out with "Sawaal Dus Crore ka" (SDCK), two months after KBC was launched. Zee also launched two new channels Zee English and Zee Movies in 2000. Zee Movies was re-launched the same year as Zee MGM...

The Re-Branding Exercise

Early 2005, Zee initiated the re-branding of the entire Zee range of brands. In line with this strategy, all the channels of Zee sported a new logo, and new on-air packaging and promotions were introduced. This sprucing up was expected to increase the TRP of all its channels. As a part of this exercise, the three English channels were also renamed. dz was renamed ZEE Trendz, ZEE English became ZEE Caf and ZEE Movie Zone was named Zee

Studio. Also, Smile TV was now ZEE Smile...

Zee TV
It reaches audiences in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, East Asia, Australia

Sony Entertainment One of the oldest tv channels with an interesting offerings

Colors One of the fastest growing television channels. Was no. with in the first year of its launch No Regional channels

Star
STAR Plus is officially the No 1 asian TV channel in europe !! and will soon be No 1 in the USA STAR Plus attracts more and more viewers in many countries with its 15 running soaps Limited regional channels as compared to ZEE

Zee Network umbrella, carries broadcasts in Hindi, Urdu, and other regional languages of India. Serial mix No. 4 currently in the television market Dance India Deance, Sare ga ma pa..Lil Champs No HD Pavitra Rishta, yahaan main ghar ghar kheli, Chhoti bahu

No regional channels however Wide variety of channels offering SET Max, Sony pix, Sony mix A combination Serial Mix No. 3 currently in the television market Comedy Circus No HD Dekha ek khwaab, Parvarish, Kuch toh log kahenge, Crime Patrol, Bade Ache lagte hai

A different collection of programming No. 2 currently in the television Market Indias Got talent, Big Boss No HD Balika Vadhu, laado, Veer Shivaji, Phulwa

Majority of the Ekta kapoor sesrials No 1 Currently in the television industry KBC, Just Dance

Boost in viewership due to HD clarity Saathiya, Sasuraal genda phool, yeh rishta kya kehlata hai