Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) (formerly Zee Telefilms) is an Indian

media conglomerate A media conglomerate, media company, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, video games, amusement parks, or ...

. Headquartered in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, it has interests in television, print, internet, film, and businesses related to mobile content, and operates 45 channels worldwide.

History

Independent era

In April 1995, the company launched the premium movie channel Zee Cinema, the first channel of its sort in the country. Until 1999, programming was done by Star TV. In the following years Zee Cinema has also catered to international markets like South-East America, Europe, Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, Indonesia and

Asia Pacific Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and the Rest of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Zee Cinema (Canada) is available in Canada as a joint ventures with Ethnic Group. Zee Telefilms launched a Nickelodeon-branded programming block in 1999 as part of a distribution deal between

Viacom International Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2005), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Pa ...

and Zee Telefilms. It was replaced by a new

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

block in 2002. In 2008, Zee Networks launched

Zee Motion Pictures Zee Studios is an Indian film production and distribution company, that specializes in film, streaming, and television, content development and production. It also specializes in film marketing and distribution. It is based in Mumbai, India, ...

and

Zee Limelight Zee Studios is an Indian film production and distribution company, that specializes in film, streaming, and television, content development and production. It also specializes in film marketing and distribution. It is based in Mumbai, India, ...

(now

Zee Studios Zee Studios is an Indian film production and distribution company, that specializes in film, streaming, and television, content development and production. It also specializes in film marketing and distribution. It is based in Mumbai, India, ...

) for the development, production, distribution and marketing of mainstream films in Indian languages, including

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

, Telugu,

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

, Bengali and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

. In 2015, Zee acquired Sarthak TV, an Odia-language pay television channel. In 2017, the company acquired the majority stake of the Reliance Broadcast Network. It also planned to acquire

9X Media 9X Media is the largest Indian music broadcaster operating 4 music television channels and a Bollywood news portal – www.spotboye.com. The four music channels are 9XM (Latest Bollywood), 9x Jalwa, 9X Jalwa (Evergreen Hindi), 9X Jhakaas (Marat ...

in October 2017 for the cost of 160

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

, however, the plan fell through in March 2018. A partially-owned subsidiary, Diligent Media Corporation, is a publisher of Indian daily newspapers and websites. DMC is a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Zee and the

Dainik Bhaskar ''Dainik Bhaskar '' () is a Hindi-language daily newspaper in India which is owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. According to the World Association of Newspapers, it ranked fourth in the world by circulation in 2016 and per the Indian Audit ...

Group. In 2018, Zee launched Zee Theatre, which offers a collection of recorded theatre plays also called teleplay- produced in India and internationally.

Sale talks

In February 2019, media reported that

Essel Group Essel Group (also known as Zee Group) is an Indian media conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai, India. The group has had business interests in mass media, infrastructure and packaging. Founded in 1926 as the Messrs Ramgopal Indraprasad by Jagan ...

was in talks to sell their shares from the Zee Entertainment Enterprises to save them from debt. Top Sony officials including Mike Hopkins, chairman of Sony Pictures Television, and

Tony Vinciquerra Anthony Vinciquerra (born August 30, 1954) is an American film executive who is the chairman and former CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment from 2017 until 2025, until he was succeeded by Ravi Ahuja. He was previously president and CEO of Fox Netw ...

, chairman of

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

, had visited Subhash Chandra and his family at his residence shortly after Chandra announced his intent to sell half of the promoter holding in Zee Entertainment Enterprises to a global strategic investor.
On 2 April reports said that some other promoters were willing to sell their shares worth 332 crore.
On 3 April media reported Sony and Zee Entertainment Enterprises deal off. On 1 August media reports

Invesco Invesco Ltd. is an American independent investment management company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with branch offices in 20 countries. Its common stock is a constituent of the S&P 500 and trades on the New York Stock Exchange. Invesco oper ...

Oppenheimer Fund to buy 11% stake in Zee Entertainment. In September 2021, it was reported that

Developing Markets Funds and OFI Global China Fund LLC, who jointly holds a 17.88% stake, wanted Punit Goenka (also the son of founder) to step down as MD and CEO. It was also reported that

owns a sum of 3.99% minority stake. In 2024, Zee Entertainment Enterprises partnered with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Attempted merger with Sony Pictures Networks India

On 22 September 2021, the company announced its intent to merge with

Sony Pictures Networks India Culver Max Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., trading as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN or SPNI), is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Sony Pictures Television. SPN manages and operates 26 television channels, the streaming media platform SonyLIV ...

. Sony Pictures will hold a majority stake in the proposed merged entity, which will be headed by Zee's Punit Goenka. In December 2021, the merger was approved by the two companies boards. Sony will hold a stake close to 51% in the company, with Zee controlling the remaining stake. On 10 August 2023, the

National Company Law Tribunal The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies. The tribunal, established under the Companies Act 2013, was constituted on 1 June 2016 by the government of India a ...

approved the proposed Sony/Zee merger. On 18 January 2024, the anticipated $10 billion merger between Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony Pictures India progressed as ZEE's stock increased amid reports that CEO Punit Goenka might step down, potentially resolving a major deadlock in the merger process. However, on 22 January 2024, Sony Pictures Networks India issued a notice to Zee Entertainment Enterprises effectively terminating the merger proceedings due to, among other reasons, the closing conditions to the merger not being satisfied by the given deadline of 21 January.

Controversy

Dispute between promoters

On 11 September 2021, Invesco asked Zee management to call shareholders an "extraordinary general meeting" (EGM) to consider its demands. One of the main demands was the removal of Punit Goenka, son of the Zee Network founder. However Zee board rejects a demand from Invesco to convene an extraordinary general meeting. Invesco Developing Market Funds Moves to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...

seeking a mandatory order for Zee Enterprises Entertainment Limited (ZEEL) to call the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that the shareholder has been demanding. Zee Board replied to Invesco's open letter saying they didn't care about the company, and Invesco was not motivated by concerns related to any corporate governance issue but "by the events that transpired during February–April 2021 pointing Invesco purposed deal with

Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Its businesses include energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, entertainment, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is the ...

. On 21 October,

asked the Zee board to call EGM as demanded by shareholder Invesco, and Counsel appearing for Zee Entertainment said the company will inform the date of the EGM by the morning of 22 October. On 22 October, Zee replied to the court that the board can't give a nod to something that will turn out to be illegal, so HC postponed hearing of the Zee-Invesco matter to 26 October. Also, on 26 October Bombay High Court had restrained Invesco from taking any action in furtherance of their requisition notice (to call an EGM). On 7 December, Invesco headed towards a resolution expected to back the merger deal with Sony as long as the Goenka family does not get any preferential equity. On 22 December, Board of Zee signed definitive agreements with Sony after received approval from its board of directors

Zee Music vs Sonu Nigam

Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian playback singer, music director, dubbing artist and actor. He is one of the most versatile singers and widest vocal ranges in the history of Indian music. His songs vary from romantic to break-up, cla ...

alleged that he was banned by the

Zee Music Company Zee Music Co. (ZMC) is an Indian music company, a subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It carries its business activities mainly from New Delhi. The company has captured a major chunk of market share in Music of Bollywood, Bollywood m ...

after he tweeted in support of politician Kumar Vishwas.

Owned Channels

India

Defunct channels and networks

Over The Top (OTT)

In February 2016, Zee Entertainment Enterprises forayed into video-on-demand with the launch of its OTT platform OZEE. On 14 February 2018, this service rebranded as

ZEE5 ZEE5 or Z5 is an Indian subscription video on demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on We ...

. Since its relaunch as ZEE5, it streams all content from its television network and also movies and original series. ZEE5 claimed 57 million monthly active users in December 2019.

Other assets

Publishing

* bgr * Mollywood * cricket country * The health site * India.com * Sugarbox * Zee5X

Event management

* Zee Live * Super moon, Arth, Edu care, It's A Girl Thing * Zee Theatre

Film distribution and music

* Zee Plex (movie-on-demand service) *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zee Entertainment Enterprises Film production companies based in Mumbai Television broadcasting companies of India Television production companies of India Television stations in Mumbai Indian companies established in 1991 Essel Group Television networks in India Television stations in Delhi Television stations in New Delhi Mass media companies based in Mumbai Mass media companies established in 1991 Television channels and stations established in 1991 Mass media companies of India Zee Entertainment Enterprises 1991 establishments in Maharashtra Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange Attempted mergers and acquisitions ZEE5