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MUMBAI:
Zee is pulling down the shutters on its radio business after
a year's presence in the UK market. Hit by recession and deciding
to focus on the group's core television business, a senior
company executive said Zee Radio would cease broadcasting
from 30 April.
"We
wanted a 24-hour radio station on air. We thought we would
get the licence in a year's time. That didn't happen. Zee
Radio would stop transmission from 30 April," Zee Network
UK and Europe head Govind Shahi told Indiantelevision.com
in a telephonic conversation from London.
Zee
Radio had the licence to operate on the AM radio broadcast
band for six hours while its DAB digital radio was round-the-clock.
Zee,
Shahi said, would concentrate on expanding its business in
Europe and grow organically even under such tough market conditions.
"We are exploring opportunities in genres that are lacking
in the European territory. The bouquet of channels may also
grow," he added, while refusing to elaborate on the plans
due to competitive reasons.
Zee
has been streamlining its operations and has decided to close
down Zee Gujarati and Zee Next. The UK operations would also
be impacted as Zee Gujarati was available to viewers in that
market. The other four channels operating in UK are Zee TV,
Zee Cinema, Alpha ETC Punjabi, and Zee Muzic (rebranded to
Zing).
"We
are shutting Zee Gujarati as it discontinues in India from
30 April. We haven't found it feasible to run it in UK by
sourcing content from outside," said Shahi.
Also
Read:
Indiantelevision.com's
interview with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. COO international
operations Bharat Ranga
Zee
Network launches Zee Radio in London
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