| MUMBAI:
The beginning of the year 2009 was a huge challenge for us. We took up this challenge
with great enthusiasm, confidence and a focused approach. Our aim was to achieve
great heights with concentrated efforts without making any tall claims.
Many of our shows
gave us positive results in 2009. Two major properties by us last year were, 'Choti
Bahu' and 'Lux Dance India Dance'. 'Choti
Bahu' proved to be a phenomenal success, redefining the primetime band as
7.30 PM and reigning over it, ever since. But this is not the first time; we had
also launched 'Sindoor' at the same time in 2006. Another
remarkable success in the non-fiction genre was 'Lux Dance India Dance'.
Unlike other star-studded shows on competing channels, Lux Dance Indian Dance
talks about excellence of talent and creates a platform for that talent. We
always believed that television creates its own stars. For 'Lux Dance India
Dance' we adopted our 17-year old formula that stemmed from our longest running
show - 'SaReGaMaPa' which makes stars out of common people with exceptional
talent. We began our journey to 11 cities, scouting talent, and came back with
some fabulous dancers rather than encouraging celebrity participation in reality
shows that look fabricated. The
results were for all of us to see with 'Lux Dance India Dance' becoming
the biggest dance reality show growing in a profitable way rather than being an
unviable business model. Our formats were copied and launched on other channels
and we all know what happened to them.
Indian
television also saw an interesting turning point with a different kind of story-telling
that emerged with newer shows. Our competition launched 'Balika Vadhu'
which has an excellent story and brought in an all-new flavour to the primetime.
We also launched 'Agle Janam Mohe Bitiyann Hi Kijo' which highlighted the
social evil of women-trafficking very strongly and forcefully. This social cause
backed up with effective story-telling made 'Laali' a household name. Another
of our shows from Balaji Telefilms, 'Pavitra Rishta', was a great hit amongst
the viewers, with the show now becoming the No. 1 fiction show across GECs. The
first ever show on satellite television to be shot completely in Delhi, '12/24
Karol Bagh' was launched by us. Two
other shows that immediately struck a chord with the viewers are 'Jhansi Ki
Rani' and 'Aap Ki Antrara'. Through 'Aap Ki Antara', we have
aimed at creating public awareness about autism & sensitizing the society
towards this issue. More than the commercial success of the show, the kind of
recognition and respect that it has garnered for itself and the channel, is what
we take immense pride in.
Similarly 'Jhansi Ki Rani' was another path-breaker. In times where historical
shows haven't really done well on television, 'Jhansi Ki Rani' has created its
own loyal audience and has been delivering consistently ever since its launch.
The success of the show has taken it beyond HSM (Hindi speaking market) with the
dubbed version being telecast on our regional channels. The
pressure from the competitors was very high with the who's who of Bollywood anchoring
some reality show or another across channels. During such times, we decided to
introduce Afsha & Dhairya, the youngest hosts on any reality show thus far.
Result? They became the most loved hosts on Indian television. Recession
forced us to take some innovative decisions which surely opened up new avenues
that went on to become great successes. Another show that got us directly connected
to the audiences is 'Ghar Ghar Mein', a low cost, simple game show with
families that allowed cameras directly into their homes. 'Ghar Ghar Mein'
is the only show on television today which establishes a direct relationship with
the viewers. So we see that it's not the money that matters but the idea that
conquers! Hence
with subjects ranging from those of historical importance to social awareness
to differential talent, Zee TV's shows have been appreciated and acknowledged
across the nation. Each of our new properties yielded results and there was no
show that had to be withdrawn during the year. Steps
taken by Zee TV were consciously working towards not just being No. 1 on GRPs
but also achieving high profitability. And to achieve profitability, we didn't
want to compromise on our quality at any cost. We didn't succumb to unnecessary
pressures of investing money in film stars or creating controversial content.
We wanted to be on the top on our terms. It's a matter of great pride that the
No. 1 fiction (Pavitra Rishta) and non-fiction show (Lux Dance India
Dance) across GECs, belong to Zee TV. It
was a year that started with great challenges that led to hope and thereby a promise
to ourselves - to top the charts. The real joy and excitement came when we became
No. 1 for a week after almost a decade. The challenge this year would be to maintain
the high performance and offer exclusive content to our viewers. Another
challenge that holds great value today is the digital scenario which is changing
television consumption patterns. On one end of the spectrum is mass consumption
pattern of television that is measured by GRPs and on the other is the evolving
audience that is migrating from analogue to digital. Content
and communication to match audiences' sensibilities is the emerging reality of
the digital era. The growth of DTH is phenomenal. It has surpassed the number
of declared analogue subscribers and will continue to grow further. Hence concentrating
on the existing analogue viewers alongwith the ever-growing DTH viewers will be
our core focus in the coming years. | 
