A milestone of 20 years is a defining moment in any organisation‘s life span. It is a reason to celebrate, when the dream we envisioned two decades ago has blossomed. We are now at an inflection point, a position from where we have to leapfrog and move to the next growth trajectory.

In 1992, Zee was established with strong values, focusing on Customer, Excellence, Creativity, Integrity, and to this day we still espouse these values. It is my belief that the key attributes that we have adopted since inception are Vision and Innovation; not just in thought, but in action. This has helped us to achieve domain expertise and consistent growth levels, emerging as industry leaders with a single-minded focus on realising aspirations.

We have a proven track record, which provides us with an enviable 30-channel network, reaching 650 million viewers across 168 countries. With a financially robust business model and a professional team, we are one of the largest content producers and aggregators globally.

The business of entertaining people is a good one to be in and there has never been a better time than now, especially in countries, where discretionary incomes are rising and people are seeking quality family entertainment.

Our offerings span varied genres, General Entertainment, Movies, Music, Sports, Lifestyle covering most languages across the world. For 20 years we are dedicated to creating and showcasing engaging content that can be enjoyed by people anywhere.

Our shareholders‘ value has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% since listing on the stock exchanges. The result of thought leadership, execution excellence, robust value system, capable talent pool, and most importantly an all-encompassing insight into viewer pulse, along with a natural flair for innovation.

In an age of fast-evolving preferences, brand loyalty is the last thing that can be taken for granted by marketers. Translated into actionable units, this tells us to strive even harder in order to maintain our leadership and sustain the momentum that we have created for ourselves.

It is with a sense of pride that I enumerate some of the significant developments in the last fiscal. Zee TV became the first Indian channel to be granted the landing rights in China. This will enable us to cater to the large audience base in China, and will open the doors to Indian entertainment.

Our distribution joint venture, Mediapro Enterprises, in a short span of time, has been successful in creating efficiencies in the entire value chain. Zee also launched one more niche channel, Ten Golf in FY‘12.

During the year, we were ranked at an impressive 217th position in the ET Top 500 Companies Report, which was higher than many multinationals in India and chosen as the no. 1 media company by the Fortune Magazine.

2011 was challenging for the global economy, as well as the entertainment industry. Against this backdrop, we have had a sterling collective performance that deserves special mention.

India‘s Television industry is poised for a quantum leap, riding on the digitisation wave. From mere aspiration, digitisation is now going to become a reality over the next few quarters. As per the latest FICCI KpMG report, the Indian Television industry will grow from Rs 329 billion to around Rs 735 billion in the next five years. This provides us with a huge opportunity to grow in the coming years.

I strongly believe that, with the digitisation drive and consolidation in the cable industry, the ability to control the market share in terms of quality, technology and service will rest with few dozen players, rather than the 60,000 cable operators prevailing today. The market for pay services will have to develop and evolve over the next three to four years, as the current ARPU levels are extremely low.Consolidation is expected in the DTH market as well, since it is not at a profitable level at this stage. Only with increase in the ARPU levels, broadcasters will be able to invest in better quality programming, otherwise it remains an unviable proposition for many players.

On the other hand, the production industry also needs to be more organised. This will bring in correction in programming costs, which have escalated drastically and unduly. In addition, the industry needs a better and comprehensive rating system, crisscrossing the entire length and breadth of the country. This will help the industry to recover the enormous losses that currently prevail. I am sure that with the elimination of anomalies, the industry is poised for an attractive growth in the coming five to seven years.

Over the years, our employees have demonstrated remarkable loyalty, and take great pride in using their talents and experience to build our global brand and businesses. With a strong emphasis on building organisational excellence through ‘Samwad‘, an HR initiative, we are on our way to create an even greater workplace environment.

Finally, I thank our board of directors for their support and exemplary guidance. I also take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all our stakeholders, who continue to repose faith and trust in us over the years.

As a dedicated team focused on delivering exceptional service, that add real value to all stakeholders, we are ready to drive the business forward for the next 20 years and beyond.

Mumbai: Global broadcast industry magnates will attend the Indian broadcast industry?s annual global festival that starts this year. The inaugural Indian TV Festival will be held in Goa for two days from 2 November 2012, providing for the first time a platform to network and exchange ideas for television executives and people who create and ideate.

Zee TV?s Subhash Chandra, Star Network?s James Murdoch, Sony America CEO Michael Lynton, Disney International chairman Andy Bird, Channel 4 head commercial marketing and research Hugh Johnson and HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink and executives from companies Comcast and Fremantle will speak at the festival.

The festival is being organised by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). It will have interactive seminars, keynote sessions, as well as a marketplace with 60 stalls exhibiting content relating to every television genre.

Star india CEO Uday Shankar, who is also IBF president, said the event had been in the making for a year. "We wanted to create and sustain a platform where the broadcast community can meet to exchange ideas. It will be an annual event where members of the broadcast industry and their allied partners will come."

The event will be used by industry members to share their vision and the way forward. "We do not come together to share ideas and best practices. The aim is to meet away from our workplace and competitive mindsets. The aim is to make this event the most iconic television gathering of creativity, minds and strategy," said Shankar.

Sunil Lulla, Times Television Network MD & CEO, and his team have put together the event.

Turner International India GM Entertainment Networks South Asia Monica Tata noted that the industry is worth Rs. 330 billion and is expected to reach Rs 1000 billion by 2017. "We have to set ourselves for the future. Television penetration is 60 per cent which means that there is opportunity for growth. New technologies like high definition, DTH offer opportunities."

"This is an event that is of, by and for the industry. The event will look at ideation across all genres including general entertainment, news, sports. The television industry needs to collaborate more strongly. Media Partners Asia is our knowledge partner and they will release a report at the event," Tata said.

Times Television?s Sunil Lulla said the event is for people who make TV happen. "For the industry to grow three fold you need conversation which will allow for new ideas to be formed. You need confidence so that competitors can also be collaborators. You also need commitment. The event will allow people who offer technology and services to meet people. Goa makes magic happen which is why we are holding the event there. We will announce more speakers in due course. The aim is to have an event that is full of dialogue."

MUMBAI: Former Indian captain Kapil Dev has returned to the BCCI fold by cutting off all links with Subhash Chandra?s Essel Sports, the company behind the now defunct Indian Cricket League.

As per the BCCI amnesty scheme, Kapil is now entitled to get Rs 10 million as part of BCCI?s one-time benefit scheme and pensions. The BCCI will also clear his arrears.

"The BCCI has received a letter from Mr. Kapil Dev, former India captain. Kapil Dev has informed the Board that he has resigned from the Essel Sports Private Limited / ICL. He has also stated in the letter that he has always supported the BCCI, and will continue to do so in the future. The BCCI acknowledges Mr. Kapil Dev?s immense contribution to Indian cricket., and looks forward to a fruitful association with him in the years to come," BCCI president N Srinivasan said.

In 2009, the BCCI had announced an amnesty scheme for all players and officials who were part of the ICL, which saw a mass exodus from the ICL fold to the BCCI.

Similarly, other cricket boards also granted amnesty to their players for breaking ties with the rebel cricket league which eventually led to its death. Recently, the BCCI had granted amnesty to Kiran More, who was associated with ICL.

MUMBAI: Beating the economic slowdown and market expectations, Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) has posted a 21 per cent jump in net profit for the fiscal-first quarter on the back of a strong ad growth and cut in sports losses.

Operating revenue also rose 21 per cent to Rs 8.43 billion for the quarter ended 30 June 2012. Advertising revenue surprised market forecasts, jumping 18 per cent to Rs 4.47 billion, as the company?s flagship channel, Zee TV, gained market share and viewership.

Zeel reported consolidated net profit of Rs 1.57 billion for the quarter, up from Rs 1.30 billion.

Zeel chairman Subhash Chandra said, ?It is encouraging to see that Zeel has recorded a strong improvement in the operating and the financial performance during the quarter. This has been on the back of increased investments that we are undertaking to grow the business and the market share."

Zeel operating revenue also jumped 21 per cent during the quarter to Rs 8.43 billion (from Rs 6.98 billion), while expenses grew by 12 per cent.

Consolidated operating profit (Ebitda) for the quarter zoomed 50 per cent to Rs 2.33 billion, from Rs 1.56 billion in the year-ago period. Ebitda margins for the quarter stood at Rs 27.7 per cent.

Said Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka, ?Zee has started the year on a good note with improvement in the operating performance in Q1 FY?13. During the quarter, we have been able to improve operating margins, partly due to higher viewership share and partly due to lower sports losses.?

Zeel? ad revenue growth came primarily due to increase in market share of many of its channels. The advertising climate, though, stays sluggish.

Subscription revenue rose 19 per cent to Rs 3.64 billion. However, on a QoQ basis, it fell 9.45 per cent (Rs 4.02 billion in Q4). Domestic subscription revenue for the fiscal-first quarter stood at Rs 2.50 billion showing 20.7 per cent growth, while international subscription revenue was at Rs 1.14 billion (up 16.5 per cent Y-o-Y).

On the expenses front, programming and operating cost for the quarter saw a 10 per cent rise to Rs 3.76 billion, from Rs 3.42 billion a year ago. Employee cost rose 19 per cent over the earlier year. Selling & other expenses for the quarter stood at Rs 1.45 billion, increasing by 16 per cent. Total costs incurred by the company rose 12 per cent to Rs 6.1 billion.

Sports business:

The sports business revenue stood at Rs 992 million in the quarter, while cost incurred was Rs 1.20 billion.

Zeel share price jumped 2.64 per cent to close Friday at Rs 149.85 on the BSE.

MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enteprises Ltd (Zeel) expects its advertising revenue to improve this fiscal despite trends of a softening due to market share gains of its channels, including flagship channel Zee TV.

The Subhash Chandra-promoted company forecasts industry to grow at 8-10 per cent due to a weakness in overall ad spends while its own progress this fiscal would be faster. Since there is an uptick in ratings, this should get reflected in more ad revenues this year.

Zeel?s ad revenues in FY?12 degrew 6.8 per cent to Rs 15.84 billion compared to Rs 17.01 billion a year ago.

The company?s subscription revenue will continue to see strong growth, aided by Media Pro, the joint venture channel distribution company between Zee-Turner and Star Den. Zeel is looking at subscription income growth in the mid-tweens without factoring in digitisation in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

After the formation of Media Pro, most of the distribution deals with cable TV operators and DTH service providers will come up for renewal this year.

Domestic subscription for FY?12 was Rs 9.22 billion, up 28.4 per cent up from Rs Rs 7.18 billion a year ago.This is, however, not comparable because Q4 FY?12 numbers include an amount of Rs 506 million representing 50 per cent share of net revenues of MediaPro when consolidated under joint venture accounting. This amount of Rs 506 million considered in this quarter pertains to nine month period from July 2011 to March 2012.

Zeel is planning to launch a new Arabic language channel so that it can tap advertising revenues in that market. It already runs Zee Aflam in the Middle East.

The company has got landing rights in China. It will continue to follow a localisation of content strategy in many geographies across the world so that it can monetise ad revenues. Earlier, Zeel had a subscription revenue model in international markets.

Zee TV plans to increase its original hours of programming to 35 hours within six months, even if the ad market doesn?t improve. The content and marketing costs will, thus, continue to show an upward trend.

Zeel sees an opportunity to ramp up investments in Tamil Nadu after Sun Group has lost its stranglehold with the Jayalalithaa-government floating the state-owned Arasu Cable. The company plans to relaunch its Tamil channel, Zee Tamizh.

Zeel does not plan to launch a second Hindi movie channel, like rival Star has done. After a period of lull, the company was aggressive in movie acquisitions in FY?12. As there are not many current year new releases available for purchase, it will continue to invest in acquiring future movie projects.

MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) has reportd a consolidated net profit of Rs 1.63 billion for the fourth quarter ended 31 March, down 16 per cent from Rs 1.93 billion in the corresponding quarter of previous year.

Consolidated revenues in the fourth quarter were Rs 8.69 billion, up 9 per cent from Rs 7.95 billion from year ago.

A media analyst said revenues were higher than estimated because of the positive surprise on all fronts - ad revenues, domestic subscription revenues, and higher than expected syndication & other sales revenues.

The consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) for the quarter was down 28 per cent to Rs 1.60 billion, from Rs 2.22 billion a year ago as its expenses rose 24 per cent. Zeel?s expenses during the quarter rose to Rs 7.09 billion from Rs 5.73 billion a year ago.

During the quarter, Zeel?s advertising revenues stood at Rs 4.15 billion, showing a decline of 12 per cent. The company clarified that in the fourth quarter of previous year, it had more cricket properties in sports which had resulted in higher advertising revenues. Loss from sports business was Rs 588 mn in the fourth quarter and Rs 1.48 bn for the full year.

?Advertising revenues from non-sports businesses have increased, though marginally. This is reflective of the overall weakness in advertising spends,? Zeel said.

The total subscription revenues for the quarter stood at Rs 4.02 billion, registering an increase of 30 per cent over the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Domestic subscription revenues stood at Rs 2.97
billion, while international subscription revenues were Rs 1.05 billion.

Zeel said that domestic subscription revenues are not comparable with the previous year because the fourth quarter includes an amount of Rs 506 million representing 50 per cent share of net revenues of MediaPro, when consolidated under joint venture accounting. MediaPro is a joint venture between Zee Turner and Start Den.

This amount of Rs 506 million considered in this quarter pertains to nine month period from July 2011 to March 2012. Subscription revenues for the quarter from international operations are up by 1 per cent Q-o-Q from Rs 1.04 billion in Q3 FY12 to Rs 1.05 billion in Q4 FY12.

Zeel chairman Subhash Chandra said the slowdown in GDP growth has had a greater impact on advertising spends during the year, and advertising revenue growth has seen a much sharper slowdown.

Chandra said, ?FY2013 is expected to be a landmark year for the television media industry. The industry is gearing up for a big change with deadline for implementing Digital Addressable System (DAS) in the four metros approaching on 30 June, 2012. Digitisation will bring about improvements in addressability and capacity, thereby, improving the quality of service to consumers and creating a better financial model for all players in the value chain.?

Zeel board has recommended a dividend of Rs 1.50 per share.

Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka said, ?We are looking forward to the implementation of digitisation which will significantly improve transparency in the pay-TV ecosystem resulting in more choice to the consumers, better quality of viewing and better economies for all players. In fiscal 2012, 10.5 million subscribers have adopted satellite based television services via DTH, taking the gross DTH subscriber base to 44.6 million strong.?

?During the quarter, we have seen significant improvement in our operating performance across all genres. The flagship channel, Zee TV, has improved its market share noticeably. We are confident that we would further enhance our market share through our planned content lineup and continue to grow our business profitability in a sustained manner.?

?In line with our strategy of growth through focused disciplined investments, we launched India?s first and only OTT (over-the-top) distribution platform, Ditto TV, with an aim to offer Live TV Channels and On Demand Video Content to consumers on multiple platforms including mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops and connected TVs. We have also launched some of our content offerings in high definition format. Ten Golf is Zee?s latest premium offering targeted at urban up-market audiences?, he added.

Speaking about the outlook for the business, Goenka added, ?While the competitive intensity remains high in the Indian television industry, we continue to make efforts towards further enhancing our market share. Media Pro, our joint venture for subscription revenues, has started on a good note and we are very confident of a robust performance going forward. The impending digitization will further be able to create value for the business. Also, our content focused approach, combined with better monetization of subscription revenues, will contribute to Company delivering steady return in the year ahead.?

For the full year 2011-12, Zeel?s net profit stood at Rs 5.91 billion, down 6 per cent from Rs 6.25 billion in the previous fiscal. The revenue stayed flat (up 1 per cent) to Rs 30.41 billion, as against Rs 30.08 billion in the year-ago period. Total expenses, jumped 5 per cent to Rs 23.01 billion, from Rs 21.87 billion.

Shares of Zeel ended the day unchanged at Rs 123.20 on BSE.