Zee Entertainment Enterprises hinted at follow suit after Sony Pictures Networks shut down some channels due to evolving market conditions. Punit Goenka, MD and CEO of ZEEL. “We constantly re-evaluate our portfolio of content offering. We have already taken certain decisions in the international markets for shutdown of linear channels. Similar things we are evaluating even in the domestic market, and you may see some announcements coming in the current fiscal,” said Goenka.
The question came up in the context of the media and entertainment industry witnessing a sharp fall in their revenue from April onward due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and government’s efforts to deal with it. The lockdowns, designed to arrest the spread of the COVID-19 virus, has impacted economic activity in the country and resulted in a widespread loss of livelihoods.
As consumers focus on saving cash, companies have seen a sharp decline in sales. This has in turn led them to cut back on discretionary spends like advertising, which contributes more than half of the Indian media industry’s revenue. The sharp pullback in advertising, however, is only the latest trigger in a market beset by a long-term trend of educated, urban middle class Indians increasingly turning to online streaming platforms like Amazon Prime, Hotstar and Netflix.to meet their entertainment needs.
On the other side, TRAI has given an ultimatum to the broadcasters to stick to its NTO 2.0 issued on 1st January, 2020 and reminded on 24th July. Goenka, however, said he was not worried about the shutting down of ‘niche’ channels as audiences shift to streaming services. “I do not see the the shutdown of niche channels having a long-term impact on our subscription revenue, because any loss there, the gains we will see on our digital platforms will be far higher,” he said. “At the end of the day, the audience doesn’t evaporate. The audience has moved from one platform to another. Therefore, we will get our share of that niche content on our digital platform,” he said.
