Next phase of growth will be driven by content on OTT platforms: Punit Goenka

Punit Goenka, MD and CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), is responsible for expanding the company’s international presence across 173 countries, and its reach to over 1.3 billion viewers. His futuristic vision and sharp acumen in the new media domain, has led the company to a global stature today. 

In his address to ZEEL’s shareholders, Punit Goenka assesses the media conglomerate’s growth in FY2019, growth of digital video viewership, strong performance recorded by ZEE5 and much more. 

Read More: Amit Goenka charts out ZEE5 growth & content strategy; 70 Originals on the anvil

We reproduce his address below: 

“FY19 was another year of strong all-round performance. ZEE5 achieved phenomenal growth in a short span and our Domestic Broadcast business further strengthened its leadership position. Movies & music business scaled-up on the strong foundation it has established. International and Live businesses took steps to prepare for a new phase of growth. The operating performance translated into a strong financial result. We have delivered extraordinary growth over the last several years, but we are cognizant of the changes happening around us and the opportunities it present. We are preparing ourselves to stay on the growth path and succeed in this evolving landscape. 

Gearing-up for next phase of growth 

Over the years, ZEEL has evolved from a single-channel network into a multi-faceted entertainment content company by consistently expanding its content offering. Till recently, television was the primary medium for taking new content to audience. However, our emerging businesses – digital, movies & music, and live events, provide us new touchpoints for reaching consumers as well as access to audience which was out of reach. This has added new dimensions to content consumption and is allowing us to experiment with new genres of content and create formats which are suited for smaller audience segments. We have significantly ramped up our content investments to capitalise on this new opportunity. Along with an evolving content repertoire, the distribution landscape is also changing with audience using multiple devices and platforms for consuming content. To enhance the reach and engagement of our products, we are stitching partnerships with new age content distributors, device manufacturers and other digital players. 

In this changing landscape, we also need to modify our processes and develop new capabilities to sustain growth and take advantage of emerging opportunities. Increase in share of direct to consumer businesses, especially digital, and changes in television distribution space give us greater insights into consumer preferences. While consumers have always been the focal point for content creation, these insights will enable us to serve them better. We are investing in data and analytics capabilities to use consumer insights for content creation and product design. Even traditional functions like marketing and customer service are undergoing significant changes and we are equipping our workforce for success in this new environment. 

The year gone by 

Digital video viewership continues to see tremendous growth as the reach of internet increases and people spend more time watching content. Till now, the growth has been primarily driven by user-generated and TV content, which is monetized through advertising. I believe that the next phase of growth would be driven by content that the digital platforms are creating. The themes, talent ensemble and production value of these shows make it markedly different and have caught the fancy of a set of audience which found TV shows too slow. Once digital platforms scale-up their production of original content, it will enable them to drive subscription model. Younger audience, primarily from urban areas, have been the early adopter of SVOD, and digital content reflects the sensibilities of this segment. As more consumers join the pay bandwagon, the content offerings will explode to cater to varied user segments. In a market characterized by low ARPU and aversion to online payments, bundling of SVOD with telecom and other services, tiered pricing and innovation in payments would be key to growth of the paid subscriber base. Though advertising is the mainstay for digital revenues currently, I believe subscription would develop as a long-term revenue driver. 

I am pleased to see ZEE5 emerge as one of the fastest growing OTT platforms in a crowded Indian market, reaching 61 million monthly users within a year of launch. The main driver for growth of ZEE5 has been the strength of its content catalogue. Powered by India’s leading TV network, the platform is visited by millions to catch up on their favourite shows and movies. To establish SVOD leadership, ZEE5 is committed to investing in content, and with over 60 original shows and movies, it has already become the biggest producer of digital content in India. Our expanding library of commercial and niche movies in 12 languages gives consumers another reason to regularly visit ZEE5. A diverse and differentiated content catalogue has enabled ZEE5 to establish itself as the go-to destination for entertainment. ZEE5’s extensive collaborations with key players in digital eco-system will help it further strengthen its position. 

Television remains the mainstay for entertainment in India and continues to see growth in reach and engagement. Over the last 4 years, 50 million households have bought a TV set, but still a third of Indians (~100 million households) do not own one, and this provides a long run-way for growth. Constantly improving choices and quality of content across languages have led to growth in time spent. The new tariff order has further improved television’s value proposition for consumers by empowering them to select and pay for content of their choice. It also gives broadcasters flexibility to price their content which would incentivize innovation. The radical change in content distribution dynamics brought with it several challenges which made the transition to new regime uneven. However, once the transition is complete, it will benefit all the stakeholders. 

Digitisation of distribution space led to proper accounting of subscriber base and this tariff order provides for fair distribution of revenue across the value chain. This increase in transparency would accelerate growth of subscription market in India. 

Our Domestic Broadcast business delivered another year of strong performance. Strengthening the network viewership share, it consolidated its position as India’s #1 entertainment network. The performance was led by the regional and movie channels portfolio. In line with our strategy of expanding the regional portfolio by entering new markets, we launched Zee Keralam, making our language footprint the biggest in the country. We continued our investments in acquisition of movie rights which will help us launch exclusive movie channels in regional markets and bolster our existing portfolio. There were two major business developments during the year – getting into distribution contracts as per the new tariff order and conversion of our two FTA channels to pay. Both impacted our revenue growth in the short term, but we are confident that once the transitory challenges settle down, they will help us further improve our competitive position across markets. The strength of our pan-India network is a result of our understanding of consumers and the processes built around it, enabling us to replicate success in multiple markets. 

Our International business continued its focus on building reach and improving engagement across geographies. Launch of channels on new platforms helped our linear portfolio increase reach and local programming initiatives in some of the markets helped us engage more with the audience. The performance of our Indian and local language channels continues to be strong across markets. In addition to strengthening our linear business, we also started rolling out ZEE5 in select markets starting with APAC countries. We are working on a market by market strategy and selecting partners for taking our product to consumers. I believe that the revenue opportunity for ZEE5 in international markets is substantial. 

Zee Studio built further on the success of last year. In FY19, it not only witnessed success at box-office, but its varied portfolio of films also received critical acclaim. It continues to focus on building a robust slate with a mix of in-house productions, co-productions and acquisitions across languages. Zee Music Company (ZMC) has now firmly established itself as one of the leading music labels. Its extensive music catalogue across 11 languages is essential for the success of any Indian music streaming platform. With new players still entering the digital streaming space, ZMC is really well-placed to succeed. Zee Live is taking small steps towards establishing its credibility in the live events space. With the launch of two new properties last year and two already rolled out in the current fiscal, it is quickly moving towards exploiting the opportunity presented by organised events industry. 

Our consolidated revenue grew by 18.7 per cent in FY19 to Rs 79,339 million. This strong growth was led by 19.8 per cent and 13.9 per cent growth in advertising and subscription revenues, respectively. Movies, music and content syndication businesses registered an impressive 29.7 per cent growth. The EBITDA margin for the year stood at 32.3 per cent and our EBITDA grew by 23.5 per cent to Rs 25,639 million. The strong EBITDA growth for the year, despite increased investments in digital and other new initiatives and impact on revenue in fourth quarter, reflects the strong underlying performance of the business. 

Together with people 

To stay on our fast-growth path in an evolving environment, we are strengthening our people processes. We are continuously working to improving the quality of our employees’ experience which inspires them to deliver their best. Our efforts to improve the quality of internal service standards, wellness initiatives and employee engagement have enabled us to be recognised as amongst the Top 100 Great Places to Work in India by the GPTW Institute. Capability building is a key focus area for the Company and we have tied up with global institutions for learning programs that will enhance and sharpen the skillset of our people. Through our initiatives we want to make ZEEL the preferred choice for talent and give them a platform which enables them to unleash their potential. 

Vote of thanks 

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all our people and partners whose unrelenting efforts have taken ZEEL to the position it is at today. I would also like to convey my gratitude to all our shareholders for their continued trust and support in our endeavour of making ZEEL India’s best content company.”