MUMBAI: Twenty-three years ago to this date, one man changed the face of Indian television forever.
We’re talking about none other than the czar of television in India - Dr Subhash Chandra, who began beaming Zee TV on 2 October, 1992 as the first Hindi language cable channel in India.
Over the last 23 years, Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Zee TV has expanded its reach to more than 169 countries and has viewership of over 956 million across the world. What's more, with the advent of Zee TV, the industry has created one million jobs, according to Dr Chandra.
On 23 anniversary of Zee TV, Dr Chandra took to Twitter to say:
Today is 23rd anniversary of private television in India. With Zee tv. Industry created one million jobs. Best for all
— Dr. Subhash Chandra (@_SubhashChandra) October 1, 2015
Following his father’s tweet-steps, ZEEL MD and CEO Puneet Goenka also tweeted:
Today ZEE completes 23 glorious years of entertaining&unifying the world!A proud moment for every member of the ZEE Family across the world!
— Punit Goenka (@punit_goenka) October 2, 2015
Since launch, the channel has aired hundreds of fictional show, which while providing entertainment have also raised multiple social issues of the country. Some of its impactful dramas have been series like Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Apki Antra, Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyaan and Afsar Betiya amongst many others.
A pioneer in many aspects, Zee TV was the first to introduce India’s first musical reality show called Antakshari, which ran successfully for over ten years. Hosted by Anuu Kapoor, the show was viewers’ staple diet across age groups.
Zee also went on to launch Zee Khana Khazana, the first 24 hours food channel in India. Aap Ki Adalat hosted by renowned journalist Rajat Sharma, was among the most loved show of 90s that the channel has ever produced.
In the fiction space, the channel gave a landmark show like Tara - the first show on contemporary urban women by Vinta Nanda that ran for about five years on the channel. Some of the other shows that have managed to make a mark areAastitvaa Ek Prem Kahani as well as the endearing and inimitable Hum Paanch.
In 1995, the channel launched first singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, which has given some of the finest singers to the industry. After producing the first singing reality show, the channel came up with first India’s largest dance reality showDance India Dance in 2009, which is currently running in its fifth season.
On the occasion of its 23rd anniversary, Zee TV is also running a contest on social media. On Twitter, the channel is running a #Zeeturns23 contest, where several questions related to Zee are posed and people are asked to tweet their answers.
As was earlier reported by Indiantelevision.com, the latest offering from Zee TV is the new reality show called I Can Do That. The show is an adaptation of an international series by the same name and will be hosted by Farhan Akhtar.
Additionally, Zee TV is also planning to launch the second season of India’s Best Dramebaaz in the coming months. On the fiction front, the channel is readying a new series called Kaala Teeka. However, the launch date of the show has not yet been revealed.
