Zee Entertainment's President and CTO Nitin Mittal Steps Down Amid Strategic Restructuring

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd announced on Friday that its president and group chief technology officer, Nitin Mittal, has resigned from the company following a three-year tenure. This development coincides with strategic changes in the technology and data vertical, spearheaded by managing director and CEO Punit Goenka.

Mittal's departure comes shortly after Rahul Johri, president of business, left the company last week after serving for three and a half years.

In a statement issued on Friday, Zee stated, "Under the guidance of the Board and in line with the strategic approach undertaken by the MD and CEO, significant steps are being implemented to build a new lateral structure that lays a sharper emphasis on accountability and results."

During this transition period, Amrit Thomas, Kishore Krishnamurthy, Bhushan Kolleri, and Vishal Somani will assume interim responsibilities for various key functions within the organization, reporting to Amit Goenka, president – digital businesses and platforms.

The company's recent earnings call unveiled a strategic three-fold approach, emphasizing cost reduction, business streamlining, and quality enhancement to regain margins, following the collapse of its merger with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Punit Goenka outlined the company's focus on frugality, quality, and output optimization across technology, content, and marketing verticals. He also emphasized efforts to increase value delivery to advertisers and explore alternative content monetization avenues.

Goenka expressed optimism about a gradual recovery in margins, targeting an 18%-20% EBITDA margin by FY26, with earnings improvement expected in the second half of fiscal year 2025.

Zee Entertainment's net profit declined 6.4% year-on-year to ₹53.4 crore in the third quarter of FY24, with operating revenue at ₹2,045.7 crore compared to ₹2,108.8 crore a year ago.

The formal termination of the merger agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment on 22 January further underscores Zee's ongoing strategic realignment efforts.