GECs
Cellcast tasked with boosting mobile action on Zee Network
MUMBAI: Zee Network channels are planning to go more interactive. And the technology to support this will be from UK-based Cellcast Group, a global provider of digital and interactive media solutions.
Zee Music and Zee Business will be the first to increase their SMS-driven interactive content. In the business channel, programmes including debates and expert discussions will be used as platforms where audiences can exploit the interactive technology.
“The plan is to provide interactivity to Zee network channels in whatever form they need. The initiatives will be mainly SMS-driven,” Cellcast Group business development director Andrew Wilson told indiantelevision.com.
Cellcast Group is already providing technology solutions to Essel Group’s newly launched gaming channel PlayTV. “We are in talks to expand our portfolio to cater to the whole network including regional channels. Interactivity is giving you opportunities to do a lot of things. We are looking at various ways to exploit this arena. The PlayTV experiment has inspired us to broaden our area of operation,” says Zee Network VP business technology Ishwar Jha.
The advantage interactivity brings is a huge database which broadcasters can exploit for generating advertising revenues. “The database can be used to drive the traffic back to the channel. Viewers will be able to express their opinion, which would be discussed live. Then they would get the responses live in their mobile phone. That way, the feature is going to be two-way interactive,” says Wilson.
Cellcast claims that its applications and TV channels are already building new traffic for mobile networks and generating significant revenue for its broadcast partners in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The company’s global clientele include Sky, Asiasat, Globecast, Star TV, BT and Future Television.
GECs
Sebi sends show-cause notice to Zee over fund diversion, company responds
Regulator questions 2018 letter of comfort and governance lapses; company vows robust legal response
MUMBAI: India’s markets watchdog has reignited its long-running scrutiny of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, issuing a sweeping show-cause notice that drags the broadcaster and 84 others into a widening governance storm.
The notice, dated February 12, has been served by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to Zee, chairman emeritus Subhash Chandra and managing director and chief executive Punit Goenka, among others. At its heart: allegations that company funds were indirectly routed to settle liabilities of entities linked to the Essel Group.
The regulator’s probe traces its roots to November 2019, when two independent directors resigned from Zee’s board, flagging concerns over the alleged appropriation of fixed deposits by Yes Bank. The deposits were reportedly adjusted against loans extended to Essel Group entities, triggering questions about related-party dealings and board oversight.
A key flashpoint is a letter of comfort dated September 4, 2018, issued by Subhash Chandra in his dual capacity as chairman of Zee and the Essel Group. The document, linked to credit facilities availed by certain group companies from Yes Bank, was allegedly known only to select members of management and not disclosed to the full board—an omission SEBI believes raises red flags over transparency and governance controls.
Zee has pushed back hard. In a statement, the company said it “strongly refutes” the allegations against it and its board members and will file a detailed response. It expressed confidence that SEBI would conduct a fair review and signalled readiness to pursue all legal remedies to protect shareholder interests.
The notice marks the latest twist in a saga that has shadowed the broadcaster since 2019. What began as boardroom unease has morphed into a full-blown regulatory confrontation. The final reckoning now rests with SEBI—but the reputational stakes for Zee, and the message for India Inc on governance discipline, could scarcely be higher.
