Higher ad spends in the run-up to FIFA World Cup, muted tax expenses for earlier years played spoilsport; company bullish on sports content
By Vallari Sanzgiri
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The company reported a recovery in domestic ad revenue in June with the acquisition of FIFA digital and broadcasting rights | Photo Credit: by sonmez
Zee Entertainment Enterprises voiced optimism for its sports content despite a 48 per cent dip in its net profit in the quarter ended June. The bottom line came in at ₹74.3 crore, muted by tax expenses for earlier years and a higher ad spend in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The company’s revenue, meanwhile, grew 4.5 per cent to ₹1,907.3 crore, led by subscription growth.
On a sequential basis, Zee reported a loss of ₹103.7 crore owing to the same tax expenses while revenue slipped 6 per cent, thanks to lower advertising and sales revenue.
The company’s all-India TV network share rose 110 basis point on year to 17.9 per cent. The EBITDA margin stood at 4.1 per cent.
What worked
Subscription revenue grew 16 per cent year-on-year driven by higher linear subscription pricing and growth in digital subscribers, along with higher average revenue per user (ARPU). Overall operating cost increased programming expenses on account of FIFA 2026 and expanded content offering across platforms.
“We are going to be very, very prudent in our approach on the sports business. We will ensure that effectively this business will be on a sustained basis for us. We have more than doubled our subscriber base and a large part of that may be due to FIFA,” said Puneet Goenka, CEO of Zee Entertainment, during the conference call.
On the digital business front, Zee reported an EBITDA of ₹4.4 crore with a 58 per cent revenue growth on an annual basis to ₹457.1 crore.
Around 38 shows and movies were released during the quarter, including 15 originals.
Ad revenue dips
Domestic advertising revenue continued to struggle with the impact of the West Asia crisis and the cricket tournaments in Q1. As a result, overall revenue was down 11 per cent year-on-year.
During the conference call, Goenka said the advertising front remains challenging given the current dynamics creating uncertainties for the company.
“We are confident that given the fact that our market share is going to improve significantly and the festive season approaching us, we should be able to leverage that to work,” he said.
The company reported a recovery in June with the acquisition of FIFA digital and broadcasting rights that garnered over 400 million users in terms of reach and a watch time of 50 billion minutes across platforms.
“As many as 73 per cent of Indians feel highly positive about Zee as a brand for bringing the FIFA World Cup 2026 to viewers,” the company said in an exchange filing.
Published on August 10, 2026
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Source: BusinessLine
