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SUBHASH CHANDRA. Media visionary. Chairman of the
country’s largest vertically integrated media and entertainment
giant, Zee Telefilms Limited. And ranked as the eighth Most
Powerful Person in the country by India Today.
PRADEEP GUHA. One of the most respected media
professionals in the country. CEO of Zee Telefilms Limited.
The man who is one of the most important captains
the team of Mr Chandra and his brother, ZTL Vice
Chairman Laxmi Goel. Busy with all its companies
ever since he joined ZTL, Guha has preferred to remain
low profile and hasn’t given a media interview on his
role at Zee so far.
PUNIT GOENKA. Business Head of ZTL flagship
Zee TV, and Zee Smile. Also Mr Chandra’s son.
With Guha, he has taken Zee TV to its strong
Number Two Position amongst Hindi GECs. And,
like Guha, had never given a media interview
ever since he joined Zee TV.
Till now.
Impact Editor Pavan R Chawla and Senior
Correspondent Noor Fathima Warsia met up with Subhashji, Guha and Goenka for a freewheeling
chat on things Zee.
We present the interview in two sections.
In the first, ZTL Chairman Subhash Chandra
speaks on a wide range of topics ranging from the
priorities and expansion plans for ZTL in the
new Financial Year to its individual businesses
and the importance of being prepared for the next
great challenge from a rapidly evolving Television
industry. He also comments on Punit Goenka’s performance, and shares his inspiration and
mantra of staying on top of situations.
This is followed by a wide ranging chat with
ZTL CEO Pradeep Guha and Zee TV and Zee
Smile Bsuiness Head Punit Goenka on the
specifics of the businesses and their vision for
their flagship channel Zee TV and the other
strong player Zee Cinema, along with Zee Smile
and Zee Sports. And much more.
Subhashji, congratulations on
last year’s strong
performance. Yours is India’s
largest vertically integrated
Media and Entertainment
company which is present in
more than 120 countries and
reaches more than 300 million
viewers across the globe in
more than seven different
languages. In the next year,
which of these numbers will
hopefully increase?
The major part of our thrust is
going to be in increasing the
languages in the coming year and of course thereby
the number of viewers also has to increase. We are
expecting excellent results from our initiatives for
Malaysia and Indonesia – where we will present our
content in the local Bhasa language. In Malaysia, it
is a JV with Astro. We’re also putting our content in
Hindi in Afghanistan. So the plans are afoot, and we
hope to make good headway and growth with
languages and new markets.
You have said earlier that 2004 was a year of
consolidation for Zee. Since then, what has been
achieved, and what are you key priorities for the
near future?
Yes, 2004 was a year of
consolidation. 2005-06 has seen
more efforts being made in the
marketing side, and 2006-07
will see more efforts on the
content side. The focus this year
will be on creating the right
kind of content. As for the rest,
I think every day is a new day in
the media business. I really don’t
think you can plan for 365 days
and then just leave the rest for
implementation.
Are you satisfied with the
level of vertical integration
that your company — India’s largest vertically
integrated media and entertainment company
— has achieved?
A lot has to be achieved. For this kind of integrated
media companies, the revenues and profits should be
four to five times what they actually are today. The
foundations of this business, which has been laid – it
needs to be developed further. The expenditures that
have been incurred, the seeds that have been sown,
well, their true potential value has yet to be realised.