Asian broadcast group Zee Entertainment is set to reduce the financial losses incurred by its sports business unit in the 2012-13 financial year, but is likely to fall short of its target of the division breaking even, according to the Indian Television news website.
Zee Entertainment, which operates pay-television broadcasters Ten Sports and Ten Cricket, is set to reduce its operating losses from Rs1.48 billion (€21.8 million/$28.1 million) in the 2011-12 financial year to between Rs700 million and Rs900 million for 2012-13, the report said.
The website said the weakening of the rupee against the US dollar – cited for the worse-than-expected figures for the 2011-12 fiscal year – was hurting Zee’s sports broadcasting business, as some of its sports rights deals are paid for in dollars. The sports business has made losses of between Rs270 million and Rs280 million in 2012 due to currency exchange rate changes.
The report said that the group would continue to invest in new sports content, with rights deals coming up for renewal with the cricket boards of Sri Lanka, Pakistan and West Indies.
Domestic subscriptions to Zee’s channels in India are expected to increase by between 14 per cent and 15 per cent in 2012-13, but subscriptions outside India are projected to stay flat or increase marginally.