After two senior management departures at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd within the last month, the exit trend is likely to be continuing at ZEEL. Multiple sources that Storyboard18 spoke to said Shariq Patel, who is the CEO of Zee Studios, is likely to leave the company. Storyboard18 has reached out to Zee and Patel for comments. While ZEE denied it, Patel had not responded to Storyboard18’s queries at the time of this writing. The article will be updated to reflect official comments.
Patel has been with Zee Studios for nearly six years. Prior to ZEEL, he held positions at Trigno Media Pvt. Ltd, Studio 18, Indian Cricket League, Radio MidDay, Bharti Airtel, and indya.com.
This week saw significant top-level churn at ZEEL with the resignation of Punit Misra who was President of Content and International Markets for ZEEL. Misra oversaw content across ZEE’s television network and digital platform ZEE5, domestically and internationally. Storyboard18 was the first to report on Misra’s exit.
Read More: ZEE layoffs: Zee CEO Punit Goenka plans to slash workforce by 15 percent
Earlier in March, Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd announced the resignation of Rahul Johri, who served as President – Business. Following Johri’s resignation, Ashish Sehgal, Chief Growth Officer, Advertisement Revenue, was asked to report directly to the MD and CEO, Punit Goenka.
This restructuring aligns with the company’s strategic approach to streamline operations and enhance productivity. Goenka also announced a 20 percent reduction in his personal remuneration a few days before Misra’s exit.
This move reflects the company’s focus on frugality, optimization, and quality content, especially after the ZEE-Sony merger fell through in January 2024. As part of its restructuring efforts, ZEE streamlined and revamped its technology and innovation centre resulting in a 50 percent reduction in its workforce by the end of March 2024.
Read More: What did ZEE’s Punit Misra say in his resignation letter?
On April 5, ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka initiated the process of reducing the company’s workforce by 15 percent to streamline the teams and be able to achieve targeted goals of the company.
The company stated that the proposed structure is aimed towards arriving at a cost-effective operational model with speed and agility as the core areas of focus.
Additionally, the company also plans to elevate certain team members across businesses, to provide them with a higher level of responsibilities; besides Goenka assuming direct charge of the critical business verticals. The detailed composition of the new operating structure will be announced after seeking the required approvals and guidance from the company’s board.