Zee Media Corporation Limited (abbreviated as ZMCL; formerly Zee News Limited) is a news broadcasting company based in Mumbai, India. The company is engaged mainly in the business of broadcasting news and current affairs, and regional entertainment up-linked from India via satellite television channels.
The network has been involved in several controversies and has broadcast fabricated news stories on multiple occasions.[3][4]
Zee Media Corporation Limited (formerly Zee News Ltd.) was founded by Essel Group and it was incorporated on 27 August 1999, as Zee Sports Ltd. It was a subsidiary of Zee Telefilms Ltd (later renamed Zee Entertainment Enterprises). The company was reincorporated on 27 May 2004, as Zee News Ltd.[5] It was demerged as a separate company of the Essel Group in 2006.[6] In 2013,[7] Zee News Ltd. changed its name to Zee Media Corporation Limited.[8][9]
It was involved in a joint venture with the Dainik Bhaskar Group for the publication of the Daily News & Analysis newspaper but the paper was discontinued in 2019 after suffering losses.[10] The corporation also runs the Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA)[11] which is owned by Zee Learn.
Launched as Zee Rajasthan Plus Marudhara in 2013 and rebranded as Zee Marudhara in 2014 and 2016 as Zee Rajasthan News.
Zee Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
2008
Launched as Zee 24 Ghante Chhattisgarh in 2008 and as Zee 24 Ghante Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in 2013.
Zee Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand
2007
Launched as Zee News Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh (2007-2013) and Zee Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand (2013-2014) rebranded as Zee Sangam in 2014 and 2016 as India 24×7. The channel was relaunched in 2017.
Zee Punjab, Haryana and Himachal
1999
Launched in 1999 as Alpha TV Punjabi, it was rebranded in 2005 as Zee Punjabi. Again rebranded as Zee Punjab, Haryana and Himachal in 2013.
Zee Bihar and Jharkhand
2009
Maurya TV was rebranded as Zee Purvaiya in 2014, after being acquired. In May 2017, it was again rebranded as Zee Bihar and Jharkhand
Launched as a programme in the name of Alpha TV Batmya on Alpha TV Marathi from 1999 to 2005. Renamed as Zee News Marathi and in 2007 as a separate news channel, known as Zee 24 Taas.
Launched as a programme in the name of Alpha TV Samachar from 1999 to 2005 on Alpha TV Gujarati. Renamed as Zee Gujarati Samachar in 2005 and launched as a separate news channel in January 2017.
Launched as Zee Kalinga in 2014 and as Zee Kalinga News. Rebranded as Zee Odisha in 2018. Rebranded as Zee Odisha News in 2022" Digitally available now
Zee News operates the Daily News & Analysis and Zee News websites to provide online coverage of the channel. The ZEE5 website which is owned by the Zee Entertainment Enterprises is used to platform coverage of other ZMCL channels.[12] The World is One News (WION) channel operates its website.[13] The ZMCL also owns the India.com news website.[14]
Daily News & Analysis Website: English-language online news coverage service. It is branded under the DNA program of Zee News.[15]
The Daily News & Analysis was an English-language broadsheet newspaper owned by the Zee Media Corporation Limited. It was launched on 30 July 2005 and branded under the Daily News & Analysis (DNA) program of Zee News. It was primarily circulated in Mumbai and discontinued on 9 October 2019 citing recurring losses.[16][17][18]
The channel was tried for allegedly extorting ₹1 billion from the Jindal Group revealed through a sting operation.[19] Two senior journalists Sudhir Chaudhary and Sameer Ahluwalia were arrested.[20][21][22] The two were sent to a 14-day judicial custody in Tihar jail and were ultimately released on bail.[23][24]Naveen Jindal had accused the two journalists of trying to extort ₹1,000,000,000 (equivalent to ₹2.1 billion or US$25 million in 2023) in advertisements for Zee News from him through blackmail by threatening to air stories against his company in the Coalgate scam. Zee News denied the charges and made counterclaims of Jindal offering them ₹200,000,000 (equivalent to ₹410 million or US$4.9 million in 2023) to halt their investigations against Jindal Steel's involvement in the scam but filed no charges.[25] In July 2018, the Jindal Group withdrew the case against Zee News and both parties to the litigation stated that an out of court settlement had been reached which remains undisclosed.[26]
Zee News reported that students from the Democratic Students' Union (DSU) raised "anti-India" slogans such as Bharat ki barbadi (The destruction of India) and Pakistan Zindabad (Long live Pakistan) at an event in the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus.[27] In a letter, Vishwa Deepak, a journalist working at the channel, stated that "our biases made us hear Bhartiya Court Zindabad (Long live the Indian courts) as Pakistan Zindabad. Vishwa Deepak later resigned from the channel after expressing reservations over its "biased coverage". The footage on the newscast of Zee News had formed the basis of charges filed by the Delhi Police.[28] Sudhir Chaudhary, the editor and prime time anchor of the channel, however on a telecast, made a statement saying "our channel only showed what was happening there, whatever we have shown is 100% authentic."[29] A forensic report of the Delhi Police however later stated that the footage was doctored.[30]
Anchor Sudhir Chaudhary ran a Daily News and Analysis program announcing that the Indian 2000-rupee note issued after the 2016 Indian banknote demonetisation by the government have GPS chips which will allow it to track currency, thereby reducing corruption.[31] The Minister of Finance, Arun Jaitley dismissed the report as being rumours.[32] The Reserve Bank of India has also stated that no such chips are present in the currency notes.[33] The presence of "nano-GPS" in the currency notes has been classified as a hoax being spread on social media.[34][35]
Zee News telecasted a video with the claim that the slogans of Pakistan Zindabad were raised at a rally in Alwar presided over by the Indian National Congress politician, Navjot Singh Sidhu.[36] Sidhu accused Zee News of playing a doctored video and threatened to file a defamation suit against Zee News.[37] Sidhu stated that slogans of Jo Bole So Nihal were misconstrued as being in favour of Pakistan.[38] Zee News accused Sidhu of calling a news broadcast to be fake news and sent a defamation notice to him. The notice demanded an apology from him within 24 hours and threatened to pursue legal recourse if an apology was not issued by him.[39]
Zee News telecasted a show featuring editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary where he claimed that the Trinamool Congress legislator Mahua Moitra had plagiarised author Martin Longman in her maiden speech after being elected to the Lok Sabha.[40] Moitra accused the channel of false reporting and submitted a breach of privilege motion against Zee News and Sudhir Chaudhary.[41] Martin Longman responded and stated that the legislator did not plagiarise him.[42] Subsequently, Moitra filed a criminal defamation case against Chaudhary.[4]
The 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election was held on 8 February 2020.[43] The exit poll results predicted the Aam Aadmi Party to retain their government in National capital territory of Delhi. The Zee News telecast of the exit poll results featured Sudhir Chaudhary, who indulged in polemic commentary against the voters of the election.[44] He stated that the people of Delhi had chosen Pakistan over Hindustan and that the rule of Mughals will now return. He further alleged the people of Delhi are lazy and only concerned about "freebies" and that issues like Ram Mandir, Balakot airstrike and Revocation of Article 370 do not matter to them which is why they have rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party.[45] The telecast resulted in backlash and mockery of Zee News and Sudhir Chaudhary on social media.[46]
On 9 July 2020, Nepal's satellite and cable television operators banned Zee News and some other Indian privately owned news channels, citing "propaganda and defamatory report against the Nepali government".[47][48]
