Zee Group in restructuring mode; Rahul Johri to head content, revenue

Private broadcaster Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), which has been facing cash flow issues for over a year, on Wednesday unveiled a major strategic restructuring involving its key talent and integrated various business and content verticals with a focus on revenue maximisation and entering newer territories.

Major part of restructuring is realigning top management, under which it has roped in Rahul Johri as president for South Asia business who will be responsible for leading the integrated revenue and content monetisation team.

Johri was the first CEO of cricket body BCCI for over four years, wherein he was one of the key persons credited for powering the monetisation process of the IPL and BCCI's media rights. Prior to the BCCI, he was with Discovery Networks Asia Pacific for 15 years where he successfully turned around it.

The other key changes include re-designating Punit Misra as president, content and international markets. He was earlier CEO of domestic broadcast business.

Amit Goenka, younger brother of CEO Punit Goenka, will be the new president for digital businesses and platforms. Amit was the CEO of international business and head of ZEE5 earlier. Tarun Katial, who is leading the over-the-top platform ZEE5, will continue to report to Amit Goenka in the same capacity.

Shariq Patel will be responsible for the integrated movies business, while Anurag Bedi will continue to drive the music business, the company said.

This restructuring process will help the company tap the emerging opportunities by focusing on reinventing existing business models, maximising its core and revenue models, and expanding into adjacent spaces besides exploring new businesses, the company said in a statement.

The process also aims at transforming Zee into the largest and most profitable media and entertainment company in the region, the statement said.

By integrating both domestic and international business, Zee aims to maximise revenue and drive content monetisation by capitalising opportunities presented in the foreign markets. It reaches out to as many as 190 markets already.

From an organisational perspective, the recast involves aggregating content to build viewer stickiness by sharply enhancing viewer intimacy, capturing and embedding socio-cultural insights and the finer nuances of the local languages, among others.

The second step is streamlining international business spanning 190 countries across the Asia-Pacific; Middle East and North Africa, Africa, Europe and North America.

The linear advertising and distribution and digital teams in the international markets will be integrated into a single team, led by the market revenue leader (Johri) who will be responsible for maximising revenues across all formats (linear/digital) and revenue streams.

Punit Goenka expressed hope that restructuring will enable Zee to become an integrated and synergised organisation, with sharper focus on delivering entertainment content to consumers across the world and enhanced value to our partners across the ecosystem.