 | |
| Formerly | Zee News Limited (1999–2013) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| BSE: 532794 NSE: ZEEMEDIA | |
| ISIN | INE966H01019 |
| Industry | Mass Media |
| Founded | August 27, 1999; 26 years ago (1999-08-27) |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
Key people | Jawahar Goel (editor-in-chief) |
| Brands |
|
| Revenue | ₹640 crore (US$76 million)[1] (2020) |
| ₹−273 crore (US$−32 million)[1] (2020) | |
| Owner | Essel Group |
Number of employees | 1,719[1] (2020) |
| Website | zeemedia |
| Footnotes / references [2] | |
Zee Media Corporation Limited (abbreviated asZMCL; formerlyZee News Limited) is an Indianmass media andnews broadcasting company based inMumbai. The company is engaged mainly in the business of broadcasting news and current affairs, and regional entertainment up-linked from India via satellite television channels.
Zee Media Corporation Limited (formerly Zee News Ltd.) was founded by Essel Group and it was incorporated on 27 August 1999, as Zee Sports Ltd. It was a subsidiary of Zee Telefilms Ltd (later renamed Zee Entertainment Enterprises). The company wasreincorporated on 27 May 2004, as Zee News Ltd.[3] It was demerged as a separate company of the Essel Group in 2006.[4] In 2013,[5] Zee News Ltd. changed its name to Zee Media Corporation Limited.[6][7]
It was involved in a joint venture with theDainik Bhaskar Group for the publication of the Daily News & Analysis newspaper but the paper was discontinued in 2019 after suffering losses.[8] The corporation also runs the Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA)[9] which is owned by Zee Learn.
Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) operates 14 television news channels, 5 digital news channels, 7 news apps and 32 digital properties.
| Channels[10] | Launched | Language | Category | SD/HD Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zee News | 1999 | Hindi | News | SD+HD | Launched asEL TV in 1993, it was rebranded as a television news program on Zee TV and in 1995, as a separate news channel. |
| Zee Business | 2002 | SD | Initially launched as a television business news program on Zee News, it was launched as a separate business news channel in 2005. | ||
| Zee Bharat | 2023 | Launched asZee News Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand in 2007 and rebranded asZee Sangam in 2014, in 2016 asIndia 24×7, and in 2017 asZee Hindustan. | |||
| Zee Rajasthan | 2013 | Launched asZee Rajasthan Plus Marudhara in 2013 and rebranded asZee Marudhara in 2014 and 2016 asZee Rajasthan News. | |||
| Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh | 2008 | Launched asZee 24 Ghante Chhattisgarh in 2008 and asZee 24 Ghante Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh in 2013. | |||
| Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand | 2007 | Launched asZee News Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh (2007-2013) andZee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand (2013-2014) rebranded asZee Sangam in 2014 and 2016 asIndia 24×7. The channel was relaunched in 2017. | |||
| Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal | 1999 | Launched in 1999 asAlpha TV Punjabi, it was rebranded in 2005 asZee Punjabi. Again rebranded asZee Punjab Haryana Himachal in 2013. | |||
| Zee Bihar Jharkhand | 2009 | Maurya TV was rebranded asZee Purvaiya in 2014, after being acquired. In May 2017, it was again rebranded asZee Bihar Jharkhand. | |||
| Zee Delhi NCR Haryana | 2022 | ||||
| Zee J&K Ladakh | 2025 | Urdu | On April, 2025, channel has been launched asKesar TV J&K Ladakh, later rebranded asZee J&K Ladakh. | ||
| Salaam TV | 2010 | Originally launched on 2010 asZee Salaam, later rebranded asSalaam TV in December, 2024. | |||
| WION | 2016 | English | |||
| Zee 24 Ghanta | 2006 | Bengali | Launched as24 Ghanta in 2006 and rebranded asZee 24 Ghanta in 2017. | ||
| Zee 24 Taas | 1999 | Marathi | Launched as a programme in the name of Alpha TV Batmya on Alpha TV Marathi from 1999 to 2005. Renamed as Zee News Marathi and in 2007 as a separate news channel, known asZee 24 Taas. | ||
| Zee 24 Kalak | 1999 | Gujarati | Launched as a programme in the name of Alpha TV Samachar from 1999 to 2005 on Alpha TV Gujarati. Renamed as Zee Gujarati Samachar in 2005 and launched as a separate news channel in January 2017. | ||
| Zee Kannada News[11] | 2023 | Kannada | Launched as a Digital channel in 2022 and as a TV channel in April 2023. | ||
| Zee Telugu News | Telugu |
| Channels | Launched | Defunct | Language | Category | SD/HD availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zee 24 Gantalu | 2008 | 2015 | Telugu | News | SD | |
| Zee Odisha | 2014 | 2022 | Odia | Launched asZee Kalinga in 2014 and asZee Kalinga News. Rebranded asZee Odisha in 2018. Rebranded asZee Odisha News in 2022". Digitally available now. | ||
| Zee Salaam | 2010 | 2024 | Urdu | Replaced byZee J&K Ladakh |
Zee News operates the Daily News & Analysis and Zee News websites to provide online coverage of the channel. The ZEE5 website which is owned by theZee Entertainment Enterprises is used to platform coverage of other ZMCL channels.[12] The World is One News (WION) channel operates its website.[13] The ZMCL also owns the India.com news website.[14]
TheDaily News & Analysis was an English-languagebroadsheet newspaper owned by the Zee Media Corporation Limited. It was launched on 30 July 2005 and branded under the Daily News & Analysis (DNA) program of Zee News. It was primarily circulated inMumbai and discontinued on 9 October 2019 citing recurring losses.[16][17][18]
The channel was tried for allegedly extorting ₹1 billion from the Jindal Group revealed through a sting operation.[19] Two senior journalistsSudhir Chaudhary and Sameer Ahluwalia were arrested.[20][21][22] The two were sent to a 14-day judicial custody inTihar jail and were ultimately released on bail.[23][24]Naveen Jindal had accused the two journalists of trying to extort₹1,000,000,000 (equivalent to₹2.1 billion or US$24 million in 2023) in advertisements for Zee News from him through blackmail by threatening to air stories against his company in theCoalgate scam. Zee News denied the charges and made counterclaims of Jindal offering them₹200,000,000 (equivalent to₹410 million or US$4.9 million in 2023) to halt their investigations againstJindal Steel's involvement in the scam but filed no charges.[25] In July 2018, the Jindal Group withdrew the case against Zee News and both parties to the litigation stated that an out of court settlement had been reached which remains undisclosed.[26]
Zee News reported that students from the Democratic Students' Union (DSU) raised "anti-India" slogans such asBharat ki barbadi (The destruction of India) andPakistan Zindabad (Long live Pakistan) at an event in theJawaharlal Nehru University campus.[27] In a letter, Vishwa Deepak, a journalist working at the channel, stated that "our biases made us hearBhartiya Court Zindabad (Long live the Indian courts) asPakistan Zindabad. Vishwa Deepak later resigned from the channel after expressing reservations over its "biased coverage". The footage on the newscast of Zee News had formed the basis of charges filed by theDelhi Police.[28] Sudhir Chaudhary, the editor and prime time anchor of the channel, however on a telecast, made a statement saying "our channel only showed what was happening there, whatever we have shown is 100% authentic."[29] A forensic report of theDelhi Police however later stated that the footage was doctored.[30]
Anchor Sudhir Chaudhary ran a Daily News and Analysis program announcing that theIndian 2000-rupee note issued after the2016 Indian banknote demonetisation by the government have GPS chips which will allow it to track currency, thereby reducing corruption.[31] TheMinister of Finance,Arun Jaitley dismissed the report as being rumours.[32] TheReserve Bank of India has also stated that no such chips are present in the currency notes.[33] The presence of "nano-GPS" in the currency notes has been classified as ahoax being spread on social media.[34][35]
Zee News telecasted a video with the claim that the slogans ofPakistan Zindabad were raised at a rally inAlwar presided over by theIndian National Congress politician,Navjot Singh Sidhu.[36] Sidhu accused Zee News of playing a doctored video and threatened to file a defamation suit against Zee News.[37] Sidhu stated that slogans ofJo Bole So Nihal were misconstrued as being in favour of Pakistan.[38] Zee News accused Sidhu of calling a news broadcast to be fake news and sent a defamation notice to him. The notice demanded an apology from him within 24 hours and threatened to pursue legal recourse if an apology was not issued by him.[39]
Zee News telecasted a show featuring editor-in-chiefSudhir Chaudhary where he claimed that theTrinamool Congress legislatorMahua Moitra had plagiarised author Martin Longman in her maiden speech after being elected to theLok Sabha.[40] Moitra accused the channel of false reporting and submitted a breach of privilege motion against Zee News and Sudhir Chaudhary.[41] Martin Longman responded and stated that the legislator did not plagiarise him.[42] Subsequently, Moitra filed a criminal defamation case against Chaudhary.[43]
The2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election was held on 8 February 2020.[44] The exit poll results predicted theAam Aadmi Party to retain their government inNational capital territory of Delhi. The Zee News telecast of the exit poll results featured Sudhir Chaudhary, who indulged in polemic commentary against the voters of the election.[45] He stated that the people of Delhi had chosen Pakistan overHindustan and that the rule ofMughals will now return. He further alleged the people of Delhi are lazy and only concerned about "freebies" and that issues likeRam Mandir,Balakot airstrike andRevocation of Article 370 do not matter to them which is why they have rejected theBharatiya Janata Party.[46] The telecast resulted in backlash and mockery of Zee News and Sudhir Chaudhary on social media.[47]
On 9 July 2020, Nepal's satellite and cable television operators banned Zee News and some other Indian privately owned news channels, citing "propaganda and defamatory report against the Nepali government".[48][49]
Zee Media's and its subsidiary WION were cited in a September 2024 report fromRRM Canada on "Potential Foreign Information Manipulation, and Interference following PM Statement on Killing ofHardeep Singh Nijjar". The report examined content from popular Indian State-aligned media outlets and influencers, including WION, finding that "Modi-aligned outlets amplified several state-supported narratives about Prime Minister Trudeau, "Canada's High Commissioner to India, Canada's national security agencies, Canada's Punjabi Sikh diaspora, and Hardeep Singh Nijjar's political beliefs." The report highlighted the “massive digital footprint” of some of the named media outlets in comparison to Canadian media outlets, estimating Zee Media's total audience is 68 Million people.[50][51][52][53]
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