In 1991, Li Ka-shing started his STAR satellite television network. At the end of the year, Subhash Chandra of the Essel Group finished a round of negotiations with HutchVision, after a series of rejections, and the condition that Chandra would pay US$5 million a year for the satellite transponder. Li signed the deal in India a few months later and approached interested companies, but nobody was interested in paying the transponder fees. Chandra was the last possible man to sign the contract, by gathering money from his non-resident Indian friends and in the creation of a holding company for the channel, Asia Today.[4]
Zee TV was launched on 2 October 1992,[5] as the flagship channel of the Zee Telefilms Ltd.[6] The channel initially broadcast three hours a day, its output consisting of movies and reruns of Doordarshan serials. The channel's initial manager was a Doordarshan news reporter who was on leave from his employer.[7] Three months later, the airtime had doubled to six hours.[4]
Within less than a month after its launch, Zee TV was criticised for airing mainly old Hindi films and serials that were previously broadcast on state TV network Doordarshan. A cynic reviewed the network giving "A for effort" and "Z(ee) for quality".[8] Others within the network called it an "upbeat clone of Doordarshan". To offset such negative criticism, Zee TV began producing more original content.[7] The channel opted to create its own pool of producers instead of using Doordarshan staff.[4]
Zee TV rejected a 1993 bid to broadcast Sun TV during the afternoons, forcing Sun TV to negotiate with competitor ATN instead.[3]
It began full-day broadcasts in 1993.[4] After Rupert Murdoch's buyout of Star TV, Zee TV faced some uncertainties about its future, nonetheless, Zee TV had gained rural audiences by November 1993. On 22 December 1993, Murdoch was planning to buy a 49.9% equity stake in the channel's owner, Hong Kong-based, British Virgin Islands-registered Asia Today.[9] By year-end 1995, Zee TV already had three channels, the other two being Zee Cinema, a Bollywood channel, and EL TV, which broadcast in English and regional languages. Numerous competitors had also emerged around this time.[7] 11 million households were receiving the channel.[4]
Zee TV lost its leadership to Star Plus, which took over its role after Murdoch sold his stake in Asia Today.[4]
On 10 January 2007, Zee Telefilms Ltd was renamed into the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL.).[citation needed]
In 2013, Zee TV, along with its sister channels, underwent a branding overhaul.[10]
On 15 October 2017, coinciding Zee's twenty-five year silver jubilee, all of its channels were rebranded.[citation needed]
On 30 May 2021, Zee TV planned to revamp its look and air four new television series, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the idea was postponed and thereafter scrapped.[11]
Associated channels
Zee Anmol
Zee Anmol is a Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) that shows reruns of Zee TV shows. It was launched in 2013 as a free-to-air channel, similar to Star Utsav, Sony Pal and Colors Rishtey. However, in 2019, it stopped being free-to-air.
Zee Zindagi
Zee Zindagi is an Indian General Entertainment Television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, that airs Pakistani TV shows (and previously also Turkish and Korean shows dubbed into Hindi). Originally launched as a satellite channel on 23 June 2014, it closed down on 30 June 2017, when its content was moved to Ozee (now ZEE5).
On 23 May 2022, Zee Zindagi was relaunched on Indian DTH platforms as a service channel airing predominantly Pakistani content. It continues to be available on ZEE5.
Zing
Zing is a youth entertainment channel in India owned by the Zee Entertainment, similar to MTV, Bindass and the erstwhile Channel V. It was launched in 1997 as Music Asia, then rebranded to Zee Muzic in 2000, and adopted its current name in 2009. Besides youth programming, it also shows music shows, like its sister channel Zee ETC Bollywood, which shut down on 17 October 2020.
Since 2007, the channel has presented an annual award show, the Zee Rishtey Awards, to performers on its show based on popularity.[18] Nominations for the awards are declared by the channel. The winners are selected through voting done via online and through SMS.[19][20][21]
International versions
Europe
The European version of Zee TV traces its origins to TV Asia, which was set up by non-resident Indian and Pakistani immigrants in the United Kingdom and started broadcasting in July 1992. It was the first channel in Europe targeting Indian, Pakistani and Bandlageshi immigrants. By 1994, the channel was facing financial difficulties, forcing Zee TV to take over the channel in March 1995. The channel also had local community programming as well as content targeting viewers of different religions (Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam).[22]
^Aamir, S. m (29 November 2013). "Celebrating relationships". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020 – via www.thehindu.com.
