DNA Edit: Glorious decades - History of TV, when written, will revolve around ZEE

When the history of television is written in India, it would have to revolve around the undoubted exploits of ZEE TV, the first privately-owned Indian channel to broadcast over cable.

Under three decades of its coming into being, it remains the mascot of Indian culture overseas. The channel’s content intended for family and coming-of-age generations, whose wide range includes news, comedy and drama, continues to rivet Indians both at home and abroad, as few outlets of entertainment have.

On Tuesday, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) completed 27 glorious years of entertaining over a billion people around the world. Crafting extraordinary entertainment experiences for audiences, the global media and entertainment powerhouse has been the front-runner in successfully implementing several pioneering initiatives, making an immense contribution to India’s liberalisation journey, with which it runs a parallel course.

Taking the consumer-first approach, the company continues to deliver robust operational performance across all its business verticals — broadcasting, digital, movies, music and LIVE events.

Despite operational challenges being faced by the industry, ZEE maintains its position as the number one non-sports entertainment network in the country with an all-India viewership share of 18.6% for fiscal 2020 year-to-date (YTD).

The company has been widely recognised for fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and was adjudged the Best Place to Work in M&E, in a study conducted by ‘Great Place to Work Institute’ in 2019. Over the last two decades and more, it has created immense value for its stakeholders and will continue to deliver extraordinary performance, reaching higher milestones across the world. This paper, which is part of the larger ZEE Group, believes it is the right time to salute an icon of the industry. The tribute is based on professional assessment and not on family adulation.