Zee Network hosts grand evening filled with glamour and glitz

The ZEE Towers was inaugurated yesterday by Mr. Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Zee Network. The evening was graced by top level dignitaries from across the Middle-East and the Subcontinent.

Held at Jumeirah Beach Hotel, the evening was packed with an audience of over 1300 people which included the region's top businesspersons & corporate heads, key government officials; popular television personalities and local and regional media heads.

Speaking at the occasion Mr. Subash Chandra, Chairman of Zee Network said "The Middle East is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and home to a diverse mix of nationalities. We are highly committed to this market and the launch of Zee Arabiya is just the beginning of our efforts to provide quality entertainment to this region."

Zee Network's planned Middle East Headquarters, "The Zee Towers" was unveiled at the evening, speaking on this Mr. Chandra said:

"The Zee Towers is in line with our investment commitment to this region. We plan to invest US $50 Million in this project which will house our regional offices as well as studio operations. Zee Towers will have over 100,000 square feet of leasable space across five floors with a wide range of top quality amenities such as a modern Arabian courtyard, huge multimedia screen walls, state-of-the-art boutique offices, underground parking spaces, and top restaurants and cafes, thus making it the ideal location for businesses. Apart from this, the towers will also house production, post-production and broadcast management infrastructure."

Once ready, top floor of the Zee Towers will be the most premium offices with a spectacular view overlooking the River Walk development. Infact, the tower has already started leasing a few floors to companies.

A recent PARC research, titled 'Asian Media Survey 2004', further lent strength to the fact that Zee TV is the number one channel across various demographical parameters and time bands. The research also re-iterated the fact that Arabs and the Middle East population in general are increasingly tuning in to watch Indian movies and music with a preference for popular song and dance sequences.

Mr. Yogesh Radhakrishnan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Real Media - Zee Network said: "Zee Arabiya will bring the best of Arabic, Asian and Western music to the Middle East region. The channel's programming will include exclusive celebrity interviews, high-quality music, entertainment news and vignettes covering diverse topics as fashion, cars, extreme sports and much more."

He adds: "Arabic music and lifestyle has always been popular with Asian and Western audiences, but they did not have an opportunity to see the entertainment mix that this region has to offer. We are confident that Zee Arabiya will provide this opportunity and thereby popularize Arabic music to Asian and Western audiences globally."

The channel is currently being up-linked from Samacom in Dubai and is free to air through Arabsat and Nilesat with a reach of nearly 55 million households across the Middle East, Northern Africa, Pakistan and certain parts of Europe. Pay platforms such as E Vision, Pehla, ART and Showtime also carry the channel. It is also available to the Indian audiences through Dish TV, Zee Networks DTH platform in India.