GECs
Zee surges into top 50 with Cine Awards
MUMBAI: There’s good news at Zee. The “mother of all awards” has delivered healthy ratings for Subhash Chandra’s flagship channel, catapulting Zee TV into the top 50 shows in the TRP stakes after a very long while.
TAM figures for the key Hindi-speaking markets give the Pan Parag Zee Cine Awards a healthy TVR of 4.87. This is all the more creditable considering the fact that the ratings are the average garnered over a solid five-and-a-half hour duration from 8:30 pm on Friday, 27 February, to 2 am early next morning.
For all India, C&S, 4+, the Zee Cine Awards came in at number 49, with an average TVR of 3.3. The much hyped film awards show which preceded this event, the Manikchand Filmfare awards, raked in 3.1 TVRs for Sony Entertainment Television, in the week ended 21 February 2004, giving it the 63rd rank in the stakes. In the same week, however, Star Plus screened the Hero Cycles Stardust awards, which took home TVRs of 4.9 and ranked 30th in the rankings. The Star Parivar Awards on 6 July last year, however, retains the title for the highest ratings for a televised event ever – an all-India ratings list, the show came in at sixth with a 9.9 TVR.
Zee channel shares:
| Market: HSM | |
|---|---|
| TG: CS 4+ | |
| Zee TV | 27 |
| Star Plus | 13.99 |
| SET | 10.2 |
| Market: Mumbai | |
| TG: CS 4+ | |
| Zee TV | 36.67 |
| Star Plus | 12.61 |
| SET | 11.71 |
| Market: Delhi | |
| TG: CS 4+ | |
| Zee TV | 31.16 |
| Star Plus | 16.21 |
| SET | 10.49 |
| Market: Kolkata | |
| TG: CS 4+ | |
| Zee TV | 23.69 |
| Star Plus | 9.5 |
| SET | 9.97 |
However, the Zee Cine Awards were telecast for a marathon five and half hours, with a half hour curtain raiser before the actual event. An average TVR of 3.3 for nearly six hours thus denotes a whopping viewer response.
| MARKET | TG | TVR |
|---|---|---|
| Hindi Speaking Market | CS 4+ | 4.87 |
| HSM (Excl Cal) | CS 4+ | 4.9 |
| HSM (Excl Cal + WB) | CS 4+ | 4.98 |
| Hindi Speaking Market | CS Female ABC 25+ | 5.37 |
| HSM (Excl Cal) | CS Female ABC 25+ | 5.5 |
| HSM (Excl Cal + WB) | CS Female ABC 25+ | 5.6 |
| Mumbai | CS 4+ | 7.75 |
| Mumbai | CS Female ABC 25+ | 8.42 |
| Delhi | CS 4+ | 5.27 |
| Delhi | CS Female ABC 25+ | 6.42 |
| Kolkata | CS 4+ | 4.47 |
| Kolkata | CS Female ABC 25+ | 4.25 |
| Rest Of Maha | CS 4+ | 2.95 |
| Maharashtra | CS 4+ | 6.11 |
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For the time period 2100 – 2400 hours, the HSM CS 4+ TVR is 6.58
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For the time period 2100 – 2400 hours, the HSM CS Female ABC 25+ is 7.52
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For Zee getting back into the viewing public’s reckoning with a one-off event, bodes well for the network that’s attempting to resurrect some of its lost glory. Sister channel Zee Cinema’s efforts to surge ahead too have succeeded with Hum Aapke Hain Koun, aired on 28 February getting a TVR of 2.7 and coming in at number 79 in the rankings. None of Zee’s serials, however, make their presence felt in the top 100 yet, however
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.
