Zee Media Corporation (4.34% stake) The
Zee Media Corporation Limited (abbreviated as
ZMCL; formerly
Zee News Limited) is the
news broadcasting company of the Essel Group. The company operates a constellation of news channels under the brand name of
Zee including the English language news channel
WION. The
Zee News channel is the flagship channel of the company. The Zee Media Corporation also owns and operates the
ZEE5 distribution platform. It was involved in a joint venture with the
Dainik Bhaskar Group for the publication of the
Daily News & Analysis newspaper but the paper was discontinued in 2019 after suffering loses. The corporation also runs the Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA) The Zee Media Corporation was formerly a subsidiary of the Zee Telefilms Ltd (later renamed to Zee Entertainment Enterprises) and existed under the name of Zee News Limited. It was demerged as a separate company of the Essel Group in 2006.
Operated channels By Zee Media Corporation Defunct/Former channels Siti Networks (6.1% stake) Siti Networks Limited (abbreviated as
SNL; formerly
Wire & Wireless India Limited; alternatively
Siti Cable) is the
multi-system operator of the Essel Group. It provides
cable distribution services for household consumption. Established in 1994 as a subsidiary of the Zee Telefilms Ltd (later renamed to Zee Entertainment Enterprises),
Dish TV (4.04% stake) DishTV India Limited (abbreviated as
DTIL, stylised as
dishtv) is a
Direct to Home (DTH) television provider company which provides DTH service through multiple brands such as Dish TV, d2h and
Zing Digital. Dish TV was launched on 2 October 2003 as the DTH provider of the Essel Group and was merged with
Videocon D2H on 22 March 2018. The Essel Group maintains a 55% stake in the company while the
Videocon Group maintains a 45% stake. It became the largest DTH provider in India after the merger. The shareholding further fell to 4.04% by 2023.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (3.99% stake) The
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (abbreviated as
ZEEL; formerly
Zee Telefilms Limited) is a media and
entertainment broadcasting company. It was the primary profit generating company of the Essel Group. It owns a constellation of
entertainment channels under the brand name of
Zee and the channels under the brands of
Living Entertainment,
Big and "&". The Zee Entertainment Enterprise also owns and operates the
record label of
Zee Music Company and the
film studio of
Zee Studios. The company was incorporated in 1992 as the Zee Telefilms Limited, the Essel Group's venture into
mass media. It launched its flagship television channel, Zee TV on 1 October 1992. The company was involved in sports broadcasting between 2004–2016. It launched its own private cricket league, the
Indian Cricket League which held two seasons between 2007–2009 but the league failed to gain traction. In 2016, it sold off all its sports broadcasting assets in the venture to
Sony. As of 2020, the company has suffered successive reduction in revenue and has been subjected to investigative probes by the
Enforcement Directorate. The Essel Group has divested a part of its shares in the company for the repayment of pending dues, reducing its stake in the company to 22.37% with much of the remaining stake still pledged as collateral to the remaining dues. On 22 December the board of
Zee Entertainment Enterprises approved the merger with
Sony Pictures Networks India. and now pending for government approval.
Zee Learn (15.05% stake) The
Zee Learn Limited (abbreviated as
ZLL; informally referred to as
Zee Schools) is the
for-profit education company of the Essel Group. Incorporated in 1958, the company did not begin operating until 2010. Zee Learn founded the
private school chains of Kidzee
preschools and Mount Litera Zee
K–12 schools. As of 2019, it had more than 1,900 Kidzee preschools and 120 Mount Litera Zee schools across India and three
institutes of higher education; the Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA), Zee Institute of Creative Arts (ZICA) and the Himgiri Zee University, Dehradun (HZU). The student
coaching firm MT Educare became a subsidiary of Zee Learn following an acquisition in May 2018. It has been inactive since 2020 and has become a direct subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises despite having a separate stock listing.
Others The group owned and operated
amusement parks of "Essel World" and "Water Kingdom" in
Mumbai. Essel World was one of the first amusement parks in India; it was shut down in April 2023. The
Shirpur Gold Refinery uses the brand name of
Zee Gold in a joint venture with the Essel Group for the marketing of the refinery's products; the Essel Group gets royalties of 20% on the net profit for the brand usage. The Refinery recently went public diluting Essel Group's stake to 43.66%. The group also operated the online
lottery Playwin in
Sikkim. The lottery however ceased operation in 2020, following the sale of assets by the Essel Group for the repayment of pending debts. Essel Group had founded and operated
Essel Propack until sale of their stake in 2019. Between 2020 and 2021, Essel Group sold Essel Finance's MSME loan book to
Adani Capital, and Essel Mutual Fund to
Navi Group. == Controversy ==