Bengaluru: Leading Content and Technology powerhouse, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (‘Z’) has reaffirmed its strong positioning in the linear TV landscape by achieving a 4-year high market share of 18.2%, on the back of a strategic content approach that offers culturally-rooted, quality content across languages. Further enhancing its connect with viewers as a trusted and relatable entertainment destination, the Company reached 99% TV households, touching the lives of 855 million people across the Nation.
The Company has taken concerted efforts across the linear business to further strengthen its programming and build a compelling content offering across genres. The results of the steps undertaken have resulted in 8 channels from ‘Z’s portfolio attaining the No. 1 leadership position across genres like general entertainment, movies and lifestyle. The Company’s flagship Hindi general entertainment channel – Zee TV also witnessed significant gains and clocked a 3-year high market share of ~15% in July (15+; HSM Urban). The channel also emerged as the leading pay Hindi GEC amongst affluent viewers (HSM Rural – 15+ NCCS AB, Wk30-33’25) on the back of its new show launches such as ‘Tumm Se Tumm Tak’ and ‘Saru’, which have both emerged as slot leaders within a short span of time (15+ HSM Urban), outperforming competition.
Contributing significantly to the overall network viewership with the highest share was the Hindi Movies cluster, with Zee Cinema as the No. 1 Hindi Movie channel (15+; HSM Urban; July’25). Its World Television Premiere of the blockbuster film ‘Pushpa 2’ in Hindi was the biggest in FY26 (YTD), resulting in considerable increase in viewership for the channel.
Within the lifestyle genre, Zee Zest maintained its firm leadership position for 3 years in a row on the back of compelling original content and Intellectual Properties.
Robust language market growth
Even as the Company garnered gains in Hindi, its growth in language markets continues to remain robust. In fact, ‘Z’ remained the fastest growing network in the South with a share of 17.2% (FY26 YTD); nearly 3% higher than FY22.
The South market continued to post new milestones, as Zee Kannada maintained its leadership position in Kannada general entertainment with an all-time high share of 44% (FY26 YTD), on the back of its latest launch ‘Karna’, which emerged as the highest rated show in the fiction-drama genre, as well as existing shows like ‘Lakshmi Nivasa’, ‘Annayya’ and ‘Naa Ninna Bidalaare’.
Zee Tamil also achieved a historical high share in the Tamil GEC genre, driven by its new show launch – ‘Ayali’ and evergreen shows like ‘Karthigai Deepam’ and ‘Anna’ (15+; TN Urban; FY26 YTD).
Zee Telugu continues its strong foothold as the biggest channel in Hyderabad across all genres driven by fiction shows like ‘Jagaddhatri’ and ‘Chamanthi’. The channel clocked a massive 18.1 TVR, for the World Television Premiere of ‘Sankranthiki Vasthunam’, making it the biggest premiere in Telugu over 2 years (15+; AP/TL Urban; FY26 YTD).
Amongst the other language markets, Zee Sarthak continued to maintain its strong foothold in the Odia market as the No. 1 GEC for 5 years in a row (15+; Odisha Urban; FY26 YTD); while Zee Talkies remained the No. 1 Marathi Movies channel for 6 years in a row. The Marathi Movies cluster also maintained a firm position in the category with a 54% share (15+; MH U+R; FY26 YTD).
The Company has also witnessed steady gains in the Marathi market with a fresh content slate enabling Zee Marathi to become the fastest growing Marathi GEC with its relative share increasing by 10% over the last 2 years (15+; MH Urban; FY26 YTD).
In the Bangla market as well, Zee Bangla is the leader in Kolkata, also regaining leadership in West Bengal Urban in the latest period (week 33’25), achieving strong growth with high- performing shows like ‘Parineeta’, ‘Jagadhatri’ and ‘Phulki’. Zee Bangla Cinema also emerged as the No. 1 Bangla Movie channel in FY26 YTD.
Languages remain at the heart of ‘Z’s content strategy, and the Company continues to leverage its capabilities to showcase the depth of stories and rich culture from every corner of the Nation. The Company’s key channels have fortified their leadership position across language markets with new content offerings and premieres of blockbuster movies.
