Rahul Johri resigns from ZEEL after 3 years stint; Punit Goenka overhauls revenue vertical

Zee Entertainment Enterprise announced the resignation of Rahul Johri and changes in the revenue vertical of the broadcast business implemented by its MD and CEO Punit Goenka.

Johri, who was President - Business of Zee Entertainment Enterprise (ZEEL), and heading revenue and monetisation, has resigned after a stint of over three years, according to a statement from the company.

The company has accepted the resignation of Johri, it added.

Besides, ZEEL also announced strategic changes in the revenue vertical of the broadcast business.

Now Ashish Sehgal, Chief Growth Officer, Advertisement Revenue, will directly report to the MD and CEO, said ZEEL.

"This announcement is the first step towards streamlining the organisation, in order to optimise the resource allocation and enhance productivity," it said.

Before ZEEL, Johri was the first Chief Executive Officer at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and led Discovery's South Asia operations.

Goenka said, "With his rich expertise and experience, Rahul has added immense value to the organisation. I wish him all the success in his future endeavours. I am most certain that with his passion towards the sports and media business; he will continue to contribute towards the industry at large."

Now Sehgal will work closely with the MD and CEO to maximise value for the advertisers.

"Since the MD and CEO will be directly working with the revenue teams, all other reportees of Johri will report into the office of Punit Goenka," it said.

Earlier this week, ZEEL Chairman R Gopalan in an investor conference said since 2020 ZEEL's performance has been impacted due to industry-wide macro slowdown, transitory issues, and management bandwidth constraints due to merger activities.

The board has decided to closely monitor the business model and plan presented by the MD and CEO of the company, wherein he has provided the roadmap to improve the performance and efficiency of each of the businesses to achieve higher EBITDA.

Last month, ZEEL reported a decline of 2.36% to Rs 2,073.36 crore in its consolidated total income for the third quarter ended in December 2023.

Zee had earlier announced a merger with Sony Pictures Network India, which could have created a USD 10.5 billion media entity in the country.

However, it was called off by the Sony Group in January, and both sides are now mired in litigation and arbitration.

Intense and prolonged merger-related activities have impacted operations and business, Gopalan said, adding the company has now taken several incremental steps to protect all stakeholders and enhance its intrinsic value through this phase.

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