The Network incurred an expenditure of Rs 1,362.3 mn during the quarter. The Board of Directors, in its meeting, approved and took on record the financial results of ZMCL for the third quarter ended December 31, 2018.
Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL)reported consolidated revenues of Rs 1,942.2 mn (Rs 194.22 crore) for third quarter of fiscal 2019.
The Network incurred an expenditure of Rs 1,362.3 mn during the quarter. The Board of Directors, in its meeting, approved and took on record the financial results of ZMCL for the third quarter ended December 31, 2018.
Operating Highlights
Operating revenue grew by 22.7% to Rs 1,942.2 mn in Q3FY19 from Rs 1,583.0 mn in Q3FY18. In 9MFY19, operating revenue grew by 30.3% to Rs 5,175.7 mn from Rs 3,972.6 mn in 9MFY18.
Operating Expenditure in Q3FY19 grew by 21.3% to Rs 1,362.3 mn from Rs 1,122.7 mn in Q3FY18. The increase in expenditure YoY has been mainly contributed by three new channels launched during last year viz. Zee Salaam, Zee 24 Kalak and Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand.
EBITDA for Q3FY19 grew by 26% to Rs 579.9 mn from Rs 460.3 mn for the corresponding period last financial year. EBITDA Margin grew from 29.1% in Q3FY18 to 29.9% in Q3FY19.
Business Highlights
The 14 news channels of ZMCL comprising 1 Global, 3 National and 10 Regional channels together continued to be one of the largest TV news networks in the country and reached more than 350 mn viewers.
Zee News, the network's flagship news channel, continued to focus on news that touches the pulse of the nation and reached more than 198 million viewers. The channel continued to translate its market strength into revenues and achieved a 20% growth in 9MFY19 over the same period last year.
Zee News provided a different view of the state assembly elections held during the quarter through Kavi Yuddh, a poetic debate on relevant issues, in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The channel also organised multi-city Abki Baar Kiski Sarkar debates to highlight different perspectives on which parties should win and why.
Zee Hindustan, our 2nd national Hindi news channel which reached over 158.8 million viewers, was transformed into India's 1st Anchorless news channel in December 2018. The channel will focus on innovative and analytical news programming.
Zee Business, our Business News offering, renewed its vigour to increase its relevance in the investor community. As a result, within the last three quarters, the channel more than doubled its market share in the stock market hours from 17.3% in Q4FY18 to 35.5% in Q3FY19.
Zee Business continued with its drive to recognize and highlight the stories of the foundation stones of the Indian economy, the SMEs. The channel honored the SMEs that have made it big through Dare to Dream Awards, a seven-city series which culminated with the finale event held in New Delhi.
Zee 24 Ghanta, the network's Bengali news offering, continued to woo the audience with its diverse content and reached more than 33.3 million viewers.
The channel continued to bring the flavor of Durga Puja from across Kolkata to viewers' homes through its Mahapujo initiative, which awards the best pandals in Kolkata under various categories. The awards were presided over by celebrities, such as Paoli Dam, Arindam Sil, Sauraseni Maitra, Sohini Sarkar, who visited more than 50 pandals across the city to identify the winners.
To promote the cultural heritage of West Bengal, the channel also provided extensive coverage of the pandals of lesser known but very important festivals - Shakti Aradhana (Kali Puja) & Jagadhatri Pujo - which are celebrated with a lot of fervour in Rest of West Bengal outside Kolkata.
Zee 24 Taas, India's first 24-hour Marathi news channel, was the most preferred channel in the genre and reached 41.1 million audiences across India.
To further brighten up the Diwali festival for the Marathi viewers, the channel organised Utsav Prakashacha (music, dance, drama) and Utsav Vinodacha (stand-up comedy), which brought together the biggest entertainers of the Marathi genre. The channel also instituted several new awards to recognize the achievers across categories – Arogya Sanman (Medicine), Atal Sanman (multiple disciplines), and Navonmesh Sanman (Positive Change).
Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, through its relevant and engaging content, continued its dominance in the market with 35.6% share.
During the quarter, the channel focused on providing comprehensive, detailed, and analytical coverage of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh state assembly elections. As part of its coverage, the channel organised MP ki Mahabharat and Chhattisgarh ki Mahabharat, which invited key personalities from the opposing parties for a face to face interaction and to discuss the burning issues of the states.
Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal, addressing audiences across Himachal Pradesh and Haryana besides Punjab, continued to enjoy the highest viewer stickiness in the market.
The channel organised Haryana Varta and Youth Varta to discuss the general developments as well as initiatives taken for the youth in the state on the completion of four years of the current dispensation.
Zee Rajasthan, our regional channel catering to Rajasthani population, reached 19.9 million viewers across India.
To gauge the political sentiments and strategies on the state assembly elections, the channel organised Rajasthan Conclave with leaders from all parties. To gauge the on-ground sentiments of the people and to connect them with the leaders, the channel organised Chunav Vimarsh, a series of discussions and debates across Rajasthan.
Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand, our latest offering, reached more than 7.9 million viewers.
To facilitate the development of one of the most important tourism destinations of the region, the channel organised Agra ke Vikas ki Baat, a platform where politicians from different parties shared their views and suggestions on the topic.
Zee Bihar Jharkhand, our regional channel targeting the states of Bihar and Jharkhand, maintained its top position in the market with 46.9% market share.
Zee Salaam, our offering for Urdu audience, has been making a consistent impact and led the genre with 48.8% market share.
WION, India's first Global News channel, continues to carve out a niche for itself and reached over 7.6 million viewers across India.
Zee Kalinga News, our 24X7 news channel for Odisha was reinstated as Zee Odisha to highlight the channel's focus. The channel reached over 16.2 million viewers.
Zee 24 Kalak, our offering for Gujarati population, reached more than 12.2 million viewers.
Our flagship digital property Zeenews.com received 665 million page views during the quarter. Zeebiz.com, our digital business news offering, is growing exponentially and received 75 million page views in Q3FY19 compared to 5 million page views in Q3FY18.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "zee media")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}