The shift in favor of a globally-reputed, subscription-led model and recent turnaround efforts are paying rich dividends to India's largest TV broadcasting company, ZEEL.

Undeniably, it was the bold vision of Subhash Chandra, the man behind Zee TV, which gave birth to the satellite TV industry in India. He has been a constant source of inspiration for many aspiring entrepreneurs. It is his legendary business acumen, unparalleled foresight and unquenched spirit that have set him apart from his peers. He deserves all the kudos for making Zee TV, India's first private pay TV that kick-started in 1992, a huge success in a short span of time. He is a man with the Midas touch in whatever he aims to do.

Subhash Chandra's Zee TV has many firsts to its credit. It is India's first Hindi general entertainment channel; India's first listed media company; first to launch a Hindi cinema channel in India—Zee Cinema; first to launch a 24-hour Hindi News Channel in India— Zee News; first to set up MSO operations at a national level—Siticable; first to corporatize the Hindi film industry—"Gadar"; and the list goes on. Unsurprisingly, on the performance front too, it has topped the charts of Media and Entertainment (M&E) companies in The Analyst's ranking of the top 500 companies in India for FY2008-09, making it India's leading listed broadcasting company in terms of revenue. ZEEL's revenues surged by 14.94% to Rs 1,308.31 cr vis-à-vis the previous year. ZEEL is ranked 287^th with a market capitalization of Rs 6,737.51 cr, after moving a few notches up from 301^st in 2008, while its archrival Sun TV occupied the 341^st rank. Nevertheless, despite being the leading broadcasting company, ZEEL could not emerge unscathed from the global economic slowdown.

The Analyst Magazine, Zee Entertainment, Entertainment Channel, Media and Entertainment, M&E, Global Slowdown, Economic Challenges, Subscription Revenues, Regional Entertainment Business, Delivery Platforms, Gross Domestic Product, GDP, Administration Costs.