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According
to a statement issued by the company, “[ZTL chairman
Subhash] Chandra will directly provide leadership to a
three-pronged strategic direction chalked out by the company.”
The
statement further said Chandra will support and guide
the core team comprising Apurva Purohit (president, Zee
TV channel) Prashant Sanwal (director, Alpha channels),
Laxmi N Goel (director, Zee News), Yogesh Radhakrishnan
(director, Zee Music and Zee Cinema), Jagjit Singh Kohli
(director, ETC brands) and Ajay Trigunayat (vice-president,
Zee English and Zee MGM).
 Group
broadcasting CEO Sandeep Goyal, brought in last year for
a reported salary of Rs 1.2 crore, is the latest casualty
at Zee — he has been re-designated advisor to the
company, and according to the company “will be on
a sabbatical for the next few months.”
The
company says the move is aimed at focusing “on programming
excellence, multi-pillar channel approach built around
the Zee TV flagship and building operational efficiencies
to drive shareholder value.” Quoting Chandra, the
statement also said Goyal brought new energy into the
channel and will continue to be available to Zee for any
help or advice.
When
Star Plus’ show Kaun Banega Corepati (KBC),
anchored by matinee idol Amitabh Bachchan, hit household
screens across India along with a number of soaps that
went on to record unprecedented popularity, ZTL and Sony
Television saw their television rating points (TRPs) plummet.
Since
then, even as Zee put in tremendous efforts to revive
its TRPs, it has been a downhill journey all the way.
At present, according to the latest TRPs, Star Plus has
the largest number of shows in the top 50 programmes watched
in the country, with Sony holding the poor second position.
To
rectify its dismal situation earlier this year, the Zee
network launched film- and music-based programmes like
Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa,
which became popular to some extent.
The
channel, however, is still nowhere near its pre-KBC
status, but now with Chandra at the helm ZTL might have
better days ahead.
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