In a bid to financially secure the firm after the dissolution of the potential merger with Sony, Zee Entertainment has begun cost cutting measures including laying off 50 per cent of its tech team at its innovation centre in Bengaluru.

“Actioned by its MD & CEO, Punit Goenka, the steps are in line with his approach to optimise the resources and arrive at a cost-effective structure to drive continued growth for the company,” the company said in a press release. The company deferred to disclose the number of employees laid off.  

The release further added that going forward, the innovation centre will maintain a sharper focus on enhancing the overall content creation, distribution and monetisation process for the company by utilising technology-led tools to gain deeper insights into consumer preferences.

Speaking on this decision, Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEE, said, “We are laser-focused towards creating exceptional content that is rich and engaging for our viewers. We have a huge responsibility on our hands to live up to the expectations of billions of viewers across the globe and we will continue to win their hearts. To achieve this, we need the blend of a creative approach, detailed consumer insights and futuristic technology solutions.”

Spate of rejigs

This comes weeks after Nitin Mittal resigned as President of Technology and Data at Zee. Goenka has restructured the technology and data vertical under which Amrit Thomas will be responsible for data science, Kishore Krishnamurthy will head engineering, Bhushan Kolleri will look after product, and Vishal Somani will be responsible for enterprise and content technology. They will, on an interim basis, report to Amit Goenka, President – Digital Businesses and Platforms.

Earlier, Rahul Johri had quit as the President – Business, South Asia of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd after a three-year stint. Johri was responsible for leading the integrated revenue and monetisation team.

In its recent earnings call, Zee revealed a strategic three-fold approach — cutting costs, minimizing business overlap, and improving quality to reclaim margins — following the collapse of its merger with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

 

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