MUMBAI: Broadcasting major Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) expects to cut down its sports losses this fiscal to Rs 700 million as subscription revenues are showing strong growth trends.

?The distribution revenues should see an upside. International syndication, including Pakistan and the Middle East, should look up. The cricketing lineup is also reasonable. There could also the possibility of a series between India and Pakistan in the fiscal,? a source said.

The live telecast of cricket properties in FY?13 include series like Sri Lanka-England and West Indies-Australia (April 2012); Sri Lanka-Pakistan (May-June); West Indies-New Zealand and Sri Lanka-India (July-August); Zimbabwe-Bangladesh (August-September); Zimbabwe-Pakistan and Sri Lanka-New Zealand (November-December); South Africa-New Zealand (December 2012-January 2013); and South Africa-Pakistan , Sri Lanka-Bangladesh and West Indies-Zimbabwe (February-March 2013).

The prime revenue from cricket will be from the India-Sri Lanka series. The company is targeting ad revenue of Rs800 million from the series. There is only one India-playing series this fiscal.

A weakening rupee , though, remains a concern. The weakening of the rupee had upset Zeel?s early guidance of capping sports losses at Rs 1 billion in the previous fiscal. Hit by forex losses to the tune of Rs 270-Rs 280 million, the company ended FY?12 with a loss of Rs 1.48 billion from its sports broadcasting business on a revenue of Rs 3.93 billion.

?Ten Sports (the sports broadcasting arm of Zeel) has seen a 13 per cent increase in content cost due to the softening of the Indian currency. When the content deals were signed, the rupee was around Rs 44 to a dollar,? a source said.

For the fiscal ended March 2011, Zeel?s sports losses stood at Rs 2.08 billion on a revenue of Rs 4.4 billion.

MUMBAI: With competition among the Hindi movie channels heating up and Star Network acquiring majority of films, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) has gone ahead and acquired some big labels after it went on an aggressive movie buying spree lately.

Zeel will be premiering the movies on its flagship Hindi movie channel, Zee Cinema. Some of the released and yet-to-be released movies that Zeel has acquired recently include Don 2, Agneepath, Agent Vinod, Barfee, Heroine, Players, Joker, Michael and My Friend Pinto.

Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka said, "We are happy to have augmented our vast library to bring these films to the Indian audiences. We will soon be bringing the biggest blockbusters to the small screen. These films will give us a golden opportunity to showcase some of the most awaited films on TV. We have already drawn a very positive advertiser response for the films."

Last year, Zeel had acquired films like Double Dhamaal, Tanu Weds Manu, Shaitan, Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap, Chalo Dilli, Shagird and Pyaar ka Punchnama, among others.

MUMBAI: Amid a global economic downturn, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) is looking at a 9 per cent growth from its international business this fiscal.

India?s leading broadcasting network overseas will see international income up from advertising, syndication and other operations while subscription revenue will stay almost flat.

?Historically, we were very subscription-led. But for the last three years we have developed other revenue streams like mainstream advertising and syndication, which are posting growth. That enabled us to launch many products,? said Zeel international business head Bharat Ranga in an interview with Indiantelevision.com, while refusing to disclose any financials.

Zeel had posted an international subscription revenue of Rs 4.09 billion in FY?11, degrowing by 2 per cent over the year-ago period. In the first six months of this fiscal, the company has reported revenue of Rs 1.93 billion.

Zeel announces its international subscription revenues, but does not disclose the break-up of its advertising income from India and other markets.

The depreciation of the rupee against the dollar would somewhat help Zeel in the second half, but the economies of UK and Europe still remain terribly stressed.

?Europe and UK remains a huge challenge but within this turmoil, the South Asians are somewhat better placed. However, because our competitors sell very cheap or even make free content available, growth is still a challenge,? said Ranga.

Zeel launched Zee Caf?, a hybrid channel, to arrest degrowth in that market. The channel airs cricket and regional fiction shows sub-titled in English, among other lines of content.

So will the company launch more channels in global markets? ?We are very selective about launching Indian channels in these markets. We launch only when we spot gaps. In UK, we felt that there was a male product gap. We would like to launch when we see that there is an instant market need. We want to first harness the growth of these new launches,? said Ranga.

Zeel has also paced up its localisation strategy in global markets, which keeps it far ahead of its rivals. Zee Aflam, for instance, has seen reasonable growth and reached break-even status within three years. Other localisation experiments are already on in Malaysia, Russia and, to a limited extent, in France in partnership with Canal.

Will Zeel launch local products in more markets? ?There are plans in additional markets but we can?t disclose now because it is strategic in nature. We have developed homegrown tools to identify markets,? said Ranga.