Media Entertainment & Art Community

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) have approved the proposed merger between ZEE and Culver Max Entertainment, formerly Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN). According to a statement from ZEE, approvals mark a “firm and positive step” in the entire merger approval process and give the company permission to go on to the process’ subsequent stages. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and other regulatory approvals will be requested by the two companies, who had already applied for clearance from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). On December 22 of last year, ZEE and SPN officially agreed to merge their businesses. ZEE and SPN will combine as part of the proposed merger, and after it closes, the combined business will list on Indian stock exchange. According to the provisions of the formal agreements, SPN will have $1.5 billion in cash on hand (assuming an INR to USD conversion rate of 75:1) at closing, primarily due to an investment from the company’s current shareholders and the promoters of ZEE. In accordance with a non-compete agreement, SPE will pay the founder promoters of ZEE Rs 1101.31 crore as a non-compete fee. The promoters will use this money to inject primary equity capital into SPN, giving them the right to purchase an additional 2.11 percent of the combined company’s shares. SPE will hold 50.86% of the combined company after the merger, while ZEE promoters would hold 3.99%. Existing ZEE shareholders will own 45.15 percent of the combined company’s shares. Punit Goenka, MD & CEO of ZEE, will serve as the MD & CEO of the combined business, according to the agreement. There will be nine directors on the board; five of them will be chosen by the Sony Group, and the remaining three will be independent.

Over 100 campus graduates from the finest IT institutes throughout India attended ZEE’s first-ever new employee induction on Tuesday, which was held in a metaverse setting. The onboarding took place at the organization’s recently opened Technology and Innovation Center in Bengaluru, which is tasked with developing the metaverse platform by utilising augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and pertinent data models for its digital platforms. Amit Goenka, President – Digital Businesses and Platforms, and Nitin Mittal, President – Technology & Data at ZEE, were in charge of the endeavour. “We are imbibing a sharp strategic focus on enhancing our tech capabilities through a confluence of technology, data and talent. As we break new grounds and redefine entertainment by providing robust experiences across platforms, we are delighted to converge ZEE’s collaborative and entrepreneurial culture in the physical and digital realms through an immersive environment such as the metaverse,” said Goenka. “We aim to provide intuitive experiences across all aspects of an individual’s consumption, creation and transactional journey, and the first-ever metaverse induction program at ZEE, will not only help enhance our employee experience by boosting innovation and productivity, but also our consumer experience by several notches” he added. The center’s cutting-edge technology solutions and state-of-the-art infrastructure were used to perform the metaverse Induction, providing the new hires with an immersive mixed reality experience. The company stated that while it continues to serve the worldwide audience and reimagine the future of entertainment by embracing a technology and innovation led approach, it seeks to expand and improve its digital footprint. According to Animesh Kumar, President – HR and Transformation, ZEE, “As digital transformation continues to accelerate globally, the Technology and Innovation Centre at ZEE will play the lead role in driving the next era of innovation in content consumption.” “ZEEverse, is another major stride in a string of initiatives launched by the company in recent times towards our internal digital transformation that will enable the organisation to become futureready and win in the emerging digitalised economy.”

Brewing Thoughts Pvt Ltd will remake Captain Vyom, an Indian television series that aired on DD National in 1998 and was created by Ketan Mehta and starred Milind Soman, into a web series. After two difficult years of the pandemic, filmmakers and content producers are trying to appeal to consumers by using feel-good, humorous stories and nostalgia. There are plans to revive comedic classics like Govinda’s 1998 comedy Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Angoor, a modernised version of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. Sense of nostalgia has always been a terrific emotion to harness, according to experts in the media and entertainment, and feel-good classics will appeal to both older and newer audiences. The superhero television series Shaktimaan, which ran on DD National in the late 1990s, will be recreated by Sony Pictures, and content firm Applause Entertainment will consider animated tales based on Amar Chitra Katha. The increase in vintage movie and song listeners and viewers during the pandemic relates to the love of the quaint and antiquated. Happy stories can always be revived, according to media industry experts, who point out that new streaming platforms in India have started to cater to older audiences, including the 60+ population, in a big way, making these feel-good classics easy to market. Nostalgia related to sad stories may not work, but happy stories can always be revived. There have always been resources and properties that can be used for a long time while simultaneously appealing to fresh audiences and energies. Each new generation considers how it might reinterpret these formats for the time being. You might reflect fondly on a simpler time in the past and find solace in the familiar because it brings back memories.

The Adani group intends to compete head-to-head with Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Airtel and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio in the race to acquire telecom spectrum beginning on July 26. The Adani group recently received National Long Distance (NLD) and International Long-Distance (NLD) licences. “As India prepares to roll out the next generation of 5G services through this auction, we are one of the many applications participating in the open bidding process,” the group said in a statement To take part in the sale of 5G airwaves, the Adani entity would be required to get a unified access service (UAS) permit from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in accordance with Indian telecom regulations. Given the large amount of spectrum up for sale and the existence of just two significant bidders in Jio and Bharti Airtel, Adani’s anticipated involvement could increase competitiveness in the upcoming 5G airwaves sale. The sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended reserve prices for 5G auctions, which the Cabinet approved last month. A floor price reduction of roughly 39% was suggested by the regulator for the sale of 5G spectrum for mobile services.