Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. has strengthened its core leadership team with the strategic appointment of Mr. Sandeep Mehrotra as Chief Operating Officer - Advertisement Revenue, effective February 3, 2026. This move represents the company's continued focus on enhancing its human capital to align with future growth ambitions and building robust monetization capabilities across its entertainment portfolio.

Key Appointment Details

The appointment was formally disclosed under Regulation 30 of the SEBI Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2015. Mehrotra has been designated as Senior Management Personnel and will be based at the company's headquarters in Mumbai, reporting directly to Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka.

Strategic Role and Responsibilities

In his new capacity, Mehrotra will be responsible for maximizing the advertisement revenue generation capabilities of the company by leveraging the convergence between linear and digital business segments. His primary focus will be on enhancing existing revenue streams while developing new forms of growth across businesses. The appointment comes as the entertainment landscape evolves and consumption mediums continue to blur, requiring enhanced synergies between different business segments.

Laxmi Shetty will continue to lead the advertisement revenue vertical as Head - Advertisement Revenue, Broadcast & Digital, working under Mehrotra's guidance to further boost advertisement revenue performance.

Executive Leadership Perspectives

CEO Punit Goenka emphasized the strategic importance of this appointment, stating that the evolving entertainment landscape demands sharper monetization strategies that are outcome-driven and platform agnostic. He highlighted Mehrotra's deep understanding of the advertiser ecosystem and expertise in building integrated monetization frameworks across linear and digital segments as crucial for driving sustainable and diversified growth.

Mehrotra expressed his enthusiasm about joining the company at this pivotal juncture, noting the unique opportunity to drive higher engagement with advertisers and deliver meaningful value. He emphasized his intention to leverage the company's robust presence across linear and digital segments to shape an integrated and scalable advertisement revenue ecosystem.

Professional Background and Expertise

Mehrotra brings extensive experience spanning over 31 years in driving large-scale P&L ownership, multi-portfolio monetization, and enterprise growth across complex, consumer-facing businesses. His professional profile demonstrates expertise in several key areas:

Throughout his career, Mehrotra has demonstrated success in transforming traditional sales models into client-centric, outcome-driven commercial engines, consistently delivering exceptional revenue performance, market-leading efficiency, and sustained profitability. His expertise encompasses digital enablement and long-term partnership creation at national scale.

Company's Growth Strategy

This appointment aligns with Zee Entertainment's broader strategy to build a robust growth trajectory for the future by implementing steps to strengthen monetization potential across all business aspects. The company, which operates as a leading content and technology powerhouse with presence in over 190 countries and reach of over 1.4 billion people globally, continues to focus on creating extraordinary entertainment experiences across linear television, digital platforms, movies, and music.

The strategic enhancement of the leadership team reflects the company's commitment to building capabilities that support its long-term ambitions while maintaining its position as a truly Indian brand with a global footprint.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited achieved a significant milestone in Q3 FY26 as its digital business turned profitable for the first time, marking a transformative quarter for the media and entertainment company. The digital segment posted EBITDA of INR 564 million compared to a loss of INR 1,362 million in the same quarter last year, driven by strategic content investments and revised pricing strategies.

Digital Business Breakthrough

The company's digital entertainment platform ZEE5 delivered exceptional performance during the quarter, with revenue growing 73% year-on-year to INR 4,180 million - the highest quarterly revenue achieved by the digital business to date. This growth was supported by the release of 39 shows and movies, including 11 original series across 7 languages.

The revenue growth was aided by syndication revenues and a revised pricing agreement with a telecom player during the quarter, along with improved advertising revenues. Deputy CEO and CFO Mukund Galgali noted that the company has reached an annual recurring revenue (ARR) business of north of INR 1,000 crores in ZEE5.

Broadcast Business Performance

Zee Entertainment maintained its strong position in the broadcast segment, holding its place as India's number 2 TV entertainment network. The company gained 60 basis points in viewership share year-on-year, taking its network share to 17.5%. The linear TV landscape remained stable with weekly impressions above 28 billion and weekly reach exceeding 730 million.

Key regional channels showed strong performance, with Zee Bangla regaining leadership in the East and Zee Marathi achieving a market share of 33.6% in Maharashtra. The company remained the fastest-growing network in the south with a 17.7% share.

Financial Performance and Margins

Overall subscription revenue grew 7% year-on-year, primarily driven by digital business growth and successful contract renewals with broadcast distribution operators. While advertising revenues declined 9% year-on-year due to FMCG spending softness, they showed improvement with 6% quarter-on-quarter growth, indicating gradual recovery.

The company's EBITDA margin improved by 310 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 10.5%, supported by tight cost management and operating leverage. Cash and treasury investments stood at INR 21.8 billion as of December 2025, comprising cash of INR 5.0 billion, fixed deposits of INR 7.0 billion, and liquid mutual fund investments of INR 9.8 billion.

Strategic Initiatives and Content Expansion

During the quarter, Zee Entertainment expanded its content portfolio through strategic acquisitions, including theatrical and satellite rights for Kantara Chapter 1 and Akhanda 2. The company released 8 movies - 1 in Hindi and 7 in regional languages - with 3 own productions and 5 distribution deals. The syndication vertical showed promising results, contributing to a 7x year-on-year growth in other sales and services.

The company launched new strategic initiatives including the micro drama app Bullet and entered the Kids Entertainment segment with KidZ on ZEE5 to tap into younger consumer demographics. The Music business maintained healthy profitability, garnering over 51 billion total video views with more than 175 million YouTube subscribers.

Outlook and Market Position

Looking ahead, Zee Entertainment remains optimistic about gradual advertising recovery, supported by improved network share and continued digital business growth. The company expects benefits from GST cuts and sustained pickup in FMCG advertising spend toward brand-building initiatives. Management emphasized their focus on driving revenue growth through digital business expansion, implementation of strategic initiatives, and leveraging an improved advertising environment while maintaining prudent cost management for enhanced profitability and cash generation.