GECs
Sony rejigs JCPK; plans events special and new daily soaps
In bid to revive the sagging fortunes of its Kaun Banega Crorepati riposte, Jeeto Chappar Phaad Ke, Sony Entertainment Television is set to introduce some bells and whistles and some decorative elements into the Govinda-hosted game-cum-quiz show. According to the grapevine, Bollywood stars of the likes of Jackie Shroff, Javed Jaffrey, Shekar Suman, Urmila Matondkar are expected to come and do a number on JCPK a la KBC. Newspaper reports however have pointed out that National Film Award winner Raveena Tandon and that exasperating but lovable thespian Kader Khan are being talked to currently to put their might behind the show.
“The forthcoming JCPK episodes will be more on the interactive level and participation from the audience will increase, especially the from the school and college going kids who were till now tied up with exams,” says SET senior vice president programming and production Rekha Nigam. Nigam admits that JCPK has not managed to set TV sets in homes afire on weekends but she is still hopeful of a spike in the ratings which fell to as low as three in the last week of March (according to ratings firm TAM Media.)
Apart from jazzing up JCPK to make it more appealing to viewers, the channel’s management is tomtomming its “week of events” which will showcase a clutch of event-based programmes between 23 April and 30 April.
The first off the starting blocks in the current rollout will be Hrithik Roshan: The man behind the star (23 April 9 pm) and will culminate with two new daily soaps – Kusum (1 May 9 pm) and Kahi Diyaa (1 May, 9:30 pm). It will be followed by Showman of the Millenium (26 April 9pm), Great Bollywood Boogie Woogie (27 April 9.00 pm), the Lata Mangeshkar concert Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo (29 April, 9 pm), and the Hrithik Roshan Special Part II (30 April, 9 pm) which will be immediately followed by Millenium Utsav at 10 pm.
The curious part of this entire affair is that most of what is being aired in this period during the week of events is actually old programming. The Showman of the Millenium was first aired on 31 December ’99, the Great Bollywood Boogie Woogie too was telecast in the same year. The Lata Mangeshkar concert had its first telecast last month.
Will viewers take kindly to the old fare that is being shoved down at them? Is Sony showing older shows to get its competitors off guard? Will it unleash a plethora of new earth shaking new shows all of a sudden next month? That only Sony and time can tell us. And both of them are not talking now.
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.
