Local advertisers willing to pay 50% more premium than national: Punit Goenka

“TV is still a 900-million-people medium,” said ZEEL CEO Punit Goenka, as he spoke about the advertising drop in Television as a medium.  In an interview with Business Standard, Goenka discussed the failed merger with Sony, challenging degrowth in the ad market, DD Free Dish and his thoughts on the network’s future.

One of the largest Indian broadcasters with a 17% audience share, ZEE was to merge with Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI). But in January 2024, it fell through and Goenka explained that while they did everything in their power, every step took longer than expected.

Goenka also told the publication that a lot of time was spent on settlements with parties who raised objections, which were sometimes not even related to ZEE. Despite the company settling the disputes to expedite the merger, it still fell through. “Time is time and courts are courts,” said the ZEE CEO.

He also addressed the $940 million deal with Star for ICC rights being a deal breaker for the merger: “…if it was within their (Sony’s) system, I can't say. The day we got it, we informed them, and they signed on to it. “

On competing with Meta and YouTube, Goenka said that finding ZEE’s differentiator is key, and it's not possible to mirror what the platforms are. “They rely entirely on user-generated content. They have no intellectual property,” he noted.

Expressing concerns about advertising, he noted that ZEE has faced the least degrowth compared to the industry. While the industry ad revenue degrowth was 12-13%, the network declined only by 3.5-4%. "Television is still a 900-million-people medium," he emphasised. 

Goenka spoke about favouring regional and local FMCG brands over national brands, who are becoming “reasonably sized.” He said, “It requires more effort, but the local guy is willing to pay a 50% premium over national one.”

He spoke about withdrawing Zee Anmol from the FreeDish, which was an industry-led decision. But after staying away from the free-to-air market, he said that the channel will be back on the Free DishFree Dish to capture the audience base they were losing.

Goenka also revealed that the network is considering getting into gaming despite focus on linear, digital, movies and music.

The ZEE CEO expressed his readiness to evaluate and discuss “investment, merger, or any kind of deal” as long as it benefits his shareholders, people and himself.