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You won’t find TV sets & newspapers flooded with his pics, for he believes in keeping a low media profile. Punit Goenka shares Zee’s future strategies with Pallavi Srivastava

Often theorists accuse second generation entrepreneurs in India to be wealth destroyers. But media shy Punit Goenka, son of Zee honcho Subhash Chandra, is an exception. Ever since he joined the group’s entertainment bandwagon (Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited - ZEEL) a few years ago, his mere presence has put the media conglomerate on a growth trajectory. What makes Goenka tick and what’s next on his agenda? To find out more, let’s dive straight into this interview with the ZEEL CEO. Up close and personal, he reveals all... or most of it anyway :-)

When you first joined the Essel Group way back in 1995, what was on your mind?
I came with just one thought in my mind that there is nothing to lose and there is only one way to go and that was upwards.

What has helped Zee TV get its feet back in the channel race?
The factor that enabled Zee TV to come back was that we connected strongly with the viewers. My mandate is to have a world-class organisation and a leader in the media and entertainment genre. Our subscription revenue continues to grow at approximately 25% year-on-year. Advertising revenue will also grow significantly and we will continue to grow more than the industry growth.

What will be the strategic thrust at ZEEL for the next few years?
The priority area for ZEEL in the coming times will be the movie business; children’s genre – be it content creation, licensing and merchandising or other similar initiatives; niche content and enhancing the current portfolio of Zee Group on television.

What are your plans for the movie production business of the group?
We will constantly evaluate all the proposals that come our way. Be it for the crossover films, niche films or experimental films, we will continue to evaluate everything. However, I know the film market in India the best and that is where our focus will be, to start with. We will be producing a complete package of films – be it big-budget films or otherwise. We will also try to de-risk the model as much as we can. There are already eight to nine films that are under production.

Are you looking at any PE investment for your film production and distribution business?
We have the approval of $200 million to be spent over the next three years on this. But the capital structure is not final yet. Going to AIM, London is also an option. But how much will we raise from there and what will be our contribution to it are some of the details that are currently under consideration.

What are your strategies for your existing portfolio on television?
We are putting continuous effort to improve and enhance our current portfolio on TV. We will be No.1 or strong No.2 in all the categories where we are present. There will be a lot of new programming initiatives on Zee TV. I confess, some of the earlier programming initiatives like Rock-N-Roll Family on Zee TV did not get the necessary ratings. But we are constantly striving to create content for the channel. The hugely popular show – SaReGaMaPa – is now back on Zee TV after a much-deserved break. We are very excited about it.

What are your plans for niche content production on the television?
We are currently evaluating the production of niche content for our television business. I have got the approval of the board to launch a Golf Channel. It will be named TEN Golf. We will launch it in next two months.

How will the current slowdown of the Indian economy affect the media industry?
In case of a slowdown or a recession, the media industry always witnesses an upturn at least in the short term and mid term. It is bound to happen. In fact, it has already started with key sectors like telecom, DTH, et al, spending heavily in media. The reason is simple, when the economy is slowing down people try to sell their products harder. There is a lag period currently, if within an year’s time things turn around nobody wants to wait till then. This always happens in the beginning of a slowdown.

What is the best professional advice that you have gotten so far?
The best advice that I have got in this media business so far is that it’s far better to be profitable than to be playing the channels share games. Therefore focus on the market and focus on the investment, which you can encash. Blindly spending money won’t help anybody. This valuable piece of advice, which has helped me a lot was given by my father.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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