Zee Entertainment Q2 operating revenue rises 13% YoY to ₹2,225 crore, PAT falls 40%
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Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd reported a 13% year-on-year rise in operating revenue to ₹2,224.6 crore in Q2 FY27, even as higher costs and investments in new initiatives pressured profitability. EBITDA fell 52% YoY to ₹70.8 crore, while EBITDA margin narrowed to 3.2% from 7.4% a year earlier. Profit after tax declined 40% YoY to ₹45.6 crore, compared with ₹76.5 crore in Q2 FY26.
The company said its digital business drove the quarter’s revenue growth, with subscription revenue benefiting from FIFA 2026 and a stronger content pipeline. At the same time, higher programming expenses, investments in growth initiatives and increased advertising and promotion spending weighed on profitability.
Digital business drives revenue growth
Zee5 continued to be the fastest-growing vertical for the company. Revenue from Zee5 and its other digital businesses rose 101% YoY to ₹626 crore in Q2 FY27, compared with ₹310.8 crore in Q2 FY26. The digital business also delivered positive EBITDA of ₹41.6 crore during the quarter, compared with a loss of ₹31.2 crore in Q2 FY26.
“I am glad to share that Zee 5’s revenues doubled, year on year, charting a strong growth trajectory,” Punit Goenka, CEO, ‘Z’, said during the company’s Q2FY27 earnings call. He said multilingual entertainment offerings and global sports content had also driven a healthy increase in subscription revenues.
Zee said stable usage and engagement metrics, 34 shows and movies released during the quarter—including nine originals—and operating leverage supported the improvement in the digital business. FIFA 2026 also aided digital revenue growth, with the company saying the event drove higher digital ARPU and subscriber growth.
TV network gains viewership share
Zee’s television network recorded a 20% all-India TV network share in Week 24 of 2026, its highest viewership share in more than seven years, according to the company’s presentation. The network’s share had stood at 17.9% in Q4 FY26 and 17.4% in Q1 FY27. Zee said total television viewership remained stable during the period.
The company said it would focus on viewership across Zee TV, Zee Marathi and Zee Tamil, while its monetisation focus would include Zee Kannada, Zee Bangla, Zee Sarthak, Zee Punjabi, Zee Telugu and Hindi movies and cinema.
Domestic advertising revenue was flat during Q2 FY27, with Zee saying growth was supported by FIFA and marquee shows such as Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, alongside fresh launches. The company expects the upcoming festive season to support advertising revenue growth.
For the quarter, advertising revenue stood at ₹803 crore, broadly unchanged from ₹806.3 crore in Q2 FY26. Subscription revenue, meanwhile, increased to ₹1,332.4 crore from ₹1,023 crore a year earlier. Other sales and services revenue declined to ₹89.2 crore from ₹139.9 crore.
Zee’s Q2 expenditure increased 18% YoY to ₹2,153.8 crore. The company attributed the increase partly to higher programming expenses linked to FIFA 2026 and an expanded content offering across platforms. It also continued to selectively invest in initiatives including KidZ, Bullet and Live.
Advertising and promotion expenses also increased due to FIFA 2026 and investments in other initiatives, including Bullet and Music. These investments contributed to the sharp decline in EBITDA margin to 3.2%.
Zee had cash and cash equivalents of ₹2,569.4 crore as of September 2026. The company’s total cash and treasury investments stood at ₹2,569.4 crore, comprising ₹937.7 crore in mutual funds, ₹764.2 crore in fixed deposits, ₹337.1 crore in investments of other subsidiaries and ₹530.5 crore in bank balances.
The company’s content inventory and advances stood at ₹7,060 crore as of September 2026, up from ₹6,780 crore in June 2026. Zee said the increase was driven by investment in content, with content advances rising during the first half of FY27.
FIFA 2026 boosts Zee’s digital and TV ecosystem
Zee said its FIFA 2026 coverage generated around 50 billion minutes of watch time across platforms, with 83% of FIFA watch time coming from live matches on Zee5. The network reached more than 400 million viewers through live and non-live content. The company has also secured rights to showcase key FIFA events for eight consecutive years, from 2026 to 2034.
"While the industry waits for the resumption of the ratings, our focus remains on offering quality content to our consumers, since we know that they don’t choose us as per ratings or numbers, but by the way we touch their hearts. During the quarter, we also stabilized the decline in the advertisement revenues. We are constantly exploring innovative monetisation opportunities through strategic partnerships, further strengthening our ability to create value across a dynamic advertising environment," Goenka said.