Even on a quarter-to-quarter comparison, ZEEL's net profit for the first quarter shot up by 54.80 per cent when compared with Rs 104.4 crore in the last quarter of 2007-08.

ZEEL's revenue for the first quarter rose by 38 per cent to Rs 542 crore versus Rs 391.6 crore in the year ago period. The company posted a 37 per cent jump in its advertisement revenues to Rs 280 crore compared to the year ago period.

On the downside, ZEEL's consolidated programming and operative costs shot up by 21 per cent to Rs 237 crore in the first quarter due to start up costs of Zee Next, Zee Entertainment Studios, and other new initiatives compared to corresponding quarter last year.