GECs
Zee TV strengthens weekend with Janbaaz Sinbad
MUMBAI: The general entertainment channel of media mogul Subhash Chandra’s media conglomerate, Zee TV, is all set to take Sunday programming one notch higher with its new offering Janbaaz Sinbad at the 7pm time slot.
The new fiction show has been pitched against Star Plus’ top rated prime time soaps Saath Nibhaana Saathiya and Yeh Hai Mohabbatein. This could just be a beginning of a new era in television. So far only Star was experimenting with original content on Sunday, but with the entrance of Zee, the competition is sure to to heat up. There are other GEC’s too which are exploring weekend opportunities according to sources.
“Jointly produced by Sagar Pictures and Ashvini Yardi, Janbaaz Sinbad will be a one hour long weekend show. The show will hit TV screens from 27 December,” informed a source close to the development.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Sagar Pictures producer Meenakshi Sagar said, “Janbaaz Sinbad is about the adventure of Sinbad and good versus. evil. So audiences will see a very different side through this show that they haven’t watched yet on Indian television. The fantasy and adventure genre has not been yet explored much on Indian television since a very long time, so to capture that market we came up with Sinbad.
Meenakshi informed, “It will be longer than a 45 mins show because every episode is like a movie, and that cannot be shown in a shorter duration. There is drama, adventure and action which required more than 45 mins.”
Janbaaz Sinbad is set in the realms of fictional fantasy – the story of an adventure hero on a voyage to discover the undiscovered. Sinbad the sailor gets thrown into a tumultuous journey across every sea, through dangerous face-offs with wizards, sorceresses, strange tribes and creatures. His quest is not one of tiding over the mere manifestations of evil, but uprooting evil itself.
“Advertisers are looking for eyeballs, so its up to the audience whether they accept the time band or not. As of now, in terms of viewership for early evening time slot that I can recall, the numbers are not lucrative,” said a senior media planner on the condition of anonymity. He further added, “Ads rates are based on viewership and keep changing. Higher the viewership, higher will be the ad rates.”
&TV has no original content airing on the Sunday 7pm time slot, while Life OK airs Savdhaan India: India Fights Back repeat telecast at 7pm. Sony Entertainment Television has a CID repeat telecast on during the same time band. Sab TV telecasts Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma (Repeat) and Colors starts its original programming at 8 pm time band with its new weekend fiction show Naagin.
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.
