Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has made good progress in Q3 FY23 with a healthy growth in the digital business and gains in some of the key channels, said MD & CEO Punit Goenka during the earnings calls for the quarter.

“This mirrors the success of the team's concerted efforts to strengthen our offerings across markets and we continue to maintain sharp focus on delivering a robust content slate to consumers,” said Goenka.

During the call Goenka also updated investors on the progress of the proposed merger between ZEEL and Sony. “As you are aware, we have received approvals from the Stock Exchange's Competition Commission of India and the company's equity shareholders. The team at both the ends are focused on completing all the required legal and regulatory processes mandated as per law.” 

“Our focus remains on concluding these processes in the most appropriate and timely manner. And we stay committed to building value generating institutions for all our stakeholders,” he added.

Talking about ZEEL's recent entry in the sports business with the inaugural edition of ILT20, Goenka shared that it has augured well for the company and has drawn a positive initial response from the viewers and advertisers alike. 

“We aim to further build onto this momentum and elevate audience excitement, viewership and economic muscle for the sports business.” 

On the advertising front, Goenka said, “We remain cautiously optimistic on the near term advertising revenue outlook. The overall sentiments continue to be soft this quarter as well, which has resulted in muted advertising revenue growth across the sector. “

While the macroeconomic environment and inflationary headwinds are gradually easing, key brands and advertisers across categories restrained their spending, said Goenka. “Given the fact that we have relatively high exposure to FMCG advertisers and tier II and tier III audiences, our advertising revenue sensitivity grew.” 

He also mentioned that he is hopeful that the steps announced by the Finance Minister in Budget 2023 will lead to a quicker recovery in the overall ad environment. 

On the subscription front, Goenka said the long standstill on the new tariff order has been impeding growth and impacting profitability. “NTO 3.0 is being implemented from February 1, 2023. We look forward to a very substantial revenue growth post implementation in the most effective manner. We continue to focus our energies on building a future-ready portfolio, which is well poised and diversified, to capitalize on the opportunities as the overall market sentiments improve.”