Zee at 20: Subhash Chandra walks down the memory lane

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.