Zee MD & CEO Punit Goenka prunes the company’s Tech and Innovation Centre by 50%

The step was taken to achieve a cost-effective structure.

Basis the guidance received from the Board during the recently conducted Monthly Management Mentorship (3M) Program, Zee MD and CEO Puneet Goenka has pruned the company’s Technology and Innovation Centre’s (TIC) structure by approximately 50% and streamlined its scope of work.

He was quoted in an exchange filing: “We are laser focused towards creating exceptional content that is rich and engaging for our viewers. We have a huge responsibility on our hands to live up to the expectations of billions of viewers across the globe and we will continue to win their hearts.”

“To achieve this, we need the blend of a creative approach, detailed consumer insights and futuristic technology solutions. The core and streamlined team at TIC will now only focus on enabling and empowering us in this process of content creation, distribution and monetization.”

The company’s 3M Program was created to guide and enable the management team to achieve key performance metrics, including the targeted 20% EBITDA margin, proposed Goenka, revealed Zee’s exchange filing on March 26, 2024.

In the same filing, it said the 3M Program's special committee conducted a detailed analysis of the TIC which had incurred an expenditure of approximately Rs. 600 crore in the last year.

The committee noted that the TIC has developed a substantial level of technology and tools; however, it has highlighted the immediate need to focus on Return on Investment (ROI).

Zee also said it had identified business verticals that require a critical assessment – 1) Margo Networks (Sugarbox) 2) Teleplay & Zindagi 3) Hipi 4) Weyyak and 5) English Cluster of Linear TV Business.

The special committee advised that the identified business verticals will need to substantially reduce losses and enhance their performance levels.