GECs
&TV gets brand refresh; ad inventories sold out for new shows
MUMBAI: Zee took a bold step when it decided to launch channels under a different brand name ‘&’ five years ago. The bet worked and the brand lived. Now, &TV, the GEC, is undergoing a brand refresh with a new lineup of shows as well.
In 2015, &TV was launched with the philosophy 'Jashn Jeene Ka' – celebrating the spirit of life. Now, the channel is bringing up yet another thought ‘Hai Khaas Har Andaaz’, created by Lowe Lintas that premieres this weekend, breaking first on its new live singing reality show for kids Love Me India at 9 pm. &TV has two more shows in the bouquet named Perfect Pati and Vikram and Betaal.
ZEEL CEO Punit Misra said, “We believe &TV, the youngest GEC in the ZEEL portfolio, is best suited to cater to &dians – the multifaceted, progressive, young urban viewers who want to be more. With our unique brand point-of-view led content creation approach, the &TV team has crafted stories and characters that &dians will fall in love with.”
Apart from its flagship show Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain, that helped the channel gain immense traction from the viewers, it didn’t shy away from going against the tide and introducing a 100kg bahu on television with Badho Bahu or presenting kanha and radha differently. It pushed the envelope further by introducing supernatural-romance in Laal Ishq.
Commenting on the advertisers’ growth since its launch, ZEEL CMO Pratyusha Agarwal said that the growth has been phenomenal and ad inventories are already sold out for the upcoming shows. “Since the past three years, advertisers have grown up to 55 per cent,” she added.
&TV head Vishnu Shankar has been associated with Zee for more than seven years now. He started working with Zee in February 2010 as the programming head of Zing, Zee ETC and Zee Trendz. A year ago he filled Rajesh Iyer’s shoes with a vision to scale-up the cluster’s growth in a bid to entertain audiences. He said, “In the last three years, we have created many marquee properties and the channel had a good 4.5 per cent market share and now we have 7.8 per cent market share.”
We will soon get to see if the change will pay off.
GECs
Sahara One reports financial results, notes director exit and business realignment
Muted revenues, steady expenses and strategic adjustments shape company’s current phase
MUMBAI: In a tale where the sands seem to be slipping faster than they can be gathered, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited has reported another quarter of wafer-thin income and widening losses, even as a boardroom exit adds to the unease.
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its board, in a meeting held on April 4, approved its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The numbers paint a stark picture. Total income for the quarter stood at just Rs 0.13 lakh, unchanged sequentially and sharply down from Rs 0.26 lakh a year earlier.
Losses, meanwhile, deepened. The company posted a net loss of Rs 24.16 lakh for the quarter, compared to Rs 18.81 lakh in the June quarter and Rs 39.69 lakh in the same period last year. For the six months ended September 2025, the cumulative loss stood at Rs 39.69 lakh, while the full-year loss for FY25 was reported at Rs 60.72 lakh.
Expenses continued to outweigh income by a wide margin. Total expenses for the quarter came in at Rs 24.30 lakh, led by employee benefit costs of Rs 6.51 lakh and other expenses of Rs 17.78 lakh. Earnings per share remained in the red at Rs (0.11) for the quarter.
The balance sheet reflects a company with significant assets on paper but limited operational momentum. Total assets stood at Rs 23,065.57 lakh as of September 30, 2025, broadly unchanged from March 2025. Equity share capital remained steady at Rs 2,152.50 lakh, while total equity was reported at Rs 18,004.85 lakh.
Cash and cash equivalents saw a modest uptick to Rs 6.75 lakh from Rs 4.68 lakh earlier, supported by a positive operating cash flow of Rs 180.01 lakh for the period.
Yet, beneath these numbers lies a more complex narrative. The company’s auditors flagged their inability to obtain sufficient evidence to form a conclusion on the financial statements, citing lack of access to records. They also raised concerns over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, pointing to insufficient funds, delayed recoveries, and stalled content investments.
Adding to the governance overhang, the company disclosed that Rana Zia has resigned as whole-time director, effective October 16, 2025, citing other professional commitments. The resignation, noted and accepted by the board, also brings an end to her role across company committees.
Regulatory pressures continue to loom large. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has already initiated penal actions for non-compliance with listing norms, with trading in the company’s shares remaining suspended. There is also a risk of promoter demat accounts being frozen.
Legacy legal issues remain unresolved. A substantial deposit of Rs 694,027.88 thousand linked to the long-running OFCD dispute involving Sahara group entities is still under the purview of the Supreme Court of India. Restrictions on asset disposal continue to weigh on the company’s financial flexibility.
Operationally, challenges persist across multiple fronts. Advances worth Rs 1,92,916 thousand given for film content remain stuck, with delays in project completion and uncertain recoverability. The company’s YouTube channel, despite being operational, has generated no revenue for over three years due to compliance lapses. In a further twist, management has indicated that revenues may have been fraudulently diverted through unauthorised changes to its AdSense account, with a police complaint in the works.
There are also missed revenue opportunities. Television content rights continue to be used by a related party despite the expiry of the licence agreement, with fresh negotiations still underway.
For now, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited appears caught between legacy disputes and present-day operational hurdles. As losses linger and governance questions mount, the road to recovery looks less like a sprint and more like a slow trudge through shifting sands.
