He wins ‘2011 International Emmy Directorate Award’, that recognizes excellence in television programming produced outside of the United States.
Subhash Chandra, founder of the Zee Group, was honoured with the 2011 International Emmy Directorate Award at the 39th International Emmy Awards, held on November 21 at the Hilton NY in New York City. He is the first Indian to receive the award.
The International Emmy Awards recognize excellence in television programming produced outside of the United States. Around 1,000 international entertainment decision-makers from over 50 countries attend the International Emmy Awards Gala in New York every year.
“Subhash Chandra is a one-of-a-kind visionary - a self-made entrepreneur who made his mark on the Indian television industry by launching the first privately-owned channel in India,” said Bruce Paisner, President & CEO of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “We are happy to present him with our 2011 International Emmy Directorate Award as Zee Entertainment Enterprises prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2012.”
In his acceptance speech, Chandra said, “India is the cynosure of the world today and it’s a great privilege to be the first Indian recipient of this award. It really means a lot to me, the Zee Group and the Indian media and entertainment Industry.”
“While there have been many representations from India in the areas of technology and retail, this puts India’s media industry on the map and raises the profile of India with regard to its media and content,” he added.
Richard Parsons, Citigroup chairman and former chairman and CEO of Time Warner, along with Emmy Awardwinning actress Archie Panjabi, presented the award to Chandra.
The 39th International Emmy Awards were hosted by Jason Priestley, who was joined on stage by a cast of international celebrity presenters.
Based on Nielsen ratings, Zee TV is the highest-rated South Asian network in the US, offering entertainment channels with television and film programming in a wide range of genres -- including soap operas, costume/period dramas, reality shows, Bollywood movies, musicals, uspense, comedies, culinary, children’s entertainment and lifestyle. Beginning with its debut in the US in July 1998, Zee TV now operates across a variety of DTH, Telco and cable platforms and offers more than two million viewers in America over 3,00,000 hours of original, entertaining content. The network has a global reach across 167 countries and 500 million homes worldwide.
