Category: GECs

Colors leads Hindi, urban GEC; Sony Pal retains position

MUMBAI:Colors continues to lead the Hindi GEC and Urban GEC markets in week 47. In Hindi GEC rural market, Sony Pal emerged as the number one channel while Zee Anmol bagged the second position, according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).

Hindi GEC

Colors continued to be the number one channel in Hindi GECs genre with 655190 Impressions (000s) followed by Star Plus on second position with 636429 Impressions (000s) and Zee TV on third with 465944 Impressions (000s).

Sony Pal stood at number four with 462496 Impressions (000s) and Sony Entertainment Television grabbed fifth spot with 412004 Impressions (000s). Zee Anmol grabbed the sixth position with 407025 Impressions (000s) followed by Star Utsav at number seven with 402699 Impressions (000s) and Life OK at eight with 366264 Impressions (000s). Sab TV and Rishtey garnered the ninth and tenth spot with 360533 Impressions (000s) and 346771 Impressions (000s), respectively.

Hindi GEC Rural

Sony Pal emerged as the number one channel in rural Hindi-speaking market with 348642 Impressions (000s) followed by Zee Anmol which was in the leading position last week with 307877 Impressions (000s) and Star Utsav on the third position with 305964 Impressions (000s). Rishtey stood at number four with 265868 Impressions (000s).

Colors bagged the fifth spot with 212745 Impressions (000s). Star Plus stood at the sixth spot in rural HSM with 205296 Impressions (000s) followed by Zee TV at number seven with 191681 Impressions (000s). Life OK climbed to eighth spot with 134137 Impressions (000s) and Big Magic fell on nine with 130513 Impressions (000s) followed by Sony Entertainment Television with 123025 (000s).

Hindi GEC Urban

Colors garnered the pole position again in Urban HSM with 442445 Impressions (000’s) followed by Star Plus on second with 431133 Impressions (000’s). Sony Entertainment Television maintained its third spot with 288979 Impressions (000s) and Zee TV stood at number four with 274263 Impressions (000s).
Sony Sab was at the fifth spot with 265411 Impressions (000s). Life OK bagged the sixth spot with 232127 Impressions (000s) as &TV retained its number seven spot with 145141 Impressions (000s).

Sony Pal, Zee Anmol and Star Utsav grabbed the last three spots with 113854 Impressions (000s), 99149 Impressions (000s) and 96735 Impressions (000s), respectively.

December 2, 2016
Balaji to invest Rs 200 cr in ALT, launch in Jan ’17

MUMBAI: Balaji Telfilms’ new venture, ALT Digital, which was earlier planned to be launched in October, has been pushed to January 2017. At present, Balaji is not actively involved with programme production. In future, it plans to launch eight shows. January–March cycle is a good time for ALT launch, the management of Ekta Kapoor’s company feels.

Balaji Telefilms raised Rs 150 crore through preferential allotment of equity shares at Rs 140 each to select global investors such as Atyant Capital India Fund – I, Vanderbilt University, GHI LTP Ltd, GHI HSP Ltd and GHI ERP Ltd. The amount has already been capitalised. So far, Balaji spent Rs 10 crore, but the real expense would start from January when it would deliver content, Balaji Telefilms group CEO Sameer Nair said while speaking to CNBC-TV18.

The total outlay for ALT would be about Rs 200 crore in which Balaji would invest Rs 65 crore, Nair said.

Nair said it was looking to expanding in various regions in India. Balaji Telefilms will look to air new shows on Sony, Sun TV and Doordarshan. It had been doing shows across the channels, and it was the absolute leader in the TV business. It does not have a show on Sony, and that was an opportunity, Nair said. They were also producing shows for Colors. Balaji was also looking at the DD slot policy, he said, adding that they would be bidding for a few slots there. In main GEC business, Balaji was doing good, he said.

After reporting a loss of Rs 28 crore as compared to profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3.92 crore for the corresponding year-ago quarter, Balaji is planning to launch 8-10 shows by FY17-end. Both, television and film segment released a weak set of numbers at Balaji this financial year. Nair said that the new shows have a much lower margin.

Nair said that they look at TV and films numbers separately, and if one sees the TV business year on year, it actually grew on a half-yearly basis. There were new shows that would come on board, so as one could compare it with last year when they had six shows, and they were going to do 10 shows.

Balaji released Great Grand Masti and collections were significantly affected due to piracy of the movie ahead of its theatrical release. When it came to film business, of course there had been a disappointment and, the current quarter saw the full impact of unfortunate incidents that happened with Balaji; Grand Masti ‘leaked’ 21 days before the theatrical release. Therefore, Grand Mastii and Flying Jat didn’t do well which reflected in the current quarter, Nair said.

About the TV business, Nair said that television business worked on a revolving quarter. There was a reduced margin in the quarter when a show was launched. So, it was ideal to analysed the TV business on annual basis.

Balaji’s plan was to get next releases of movies in the next fiscal year, he said, adding that its film business would likely book profit in FY18. On an annual basis, because Balaji was opening at 20-25 per cent, the gross margin would go up by 35 per cent, Nair said. On an annual basis, he said, Balaji could grow by about 20 per cent year on year. From the revenue point of view, that might be little lower because of other income which would be lower this year, he added.

November 30, 2016
Balaji to invest Rs 200 cr in ALT, launch in Jan ’17

MUMBAI: Balaji Telfilms’ new venture, ALT Digital, which was earlier planned to be launched in October, has been pushed to January 2017. At present, Balaji is not actively involved with programme production. In future, it plans to launch eight shows. January–March cycle is a good time for ALT launch, the management of Ekta Kapoor’s company feels.

Balaji Telefilms raised Rs 150 crore through preferential allotment of equity shares at Rs 140 each to select global investors such as Atyant Capital India Fund – I, Vanderbilt University, GHI LTP Ltd, GHI HSP Ltd and GHI ERP Ltd. The amount has already been capitalised. So far, Balaji spent Rs 10 crore, but the real expense would start from January when it would deliver content, Balaji Telefilms group CEO Sameer Nair said while speaking to CNBC-TV18.

The total outlay for ALT would be about Rs 200 crore in which Balaji would invest Rs 65 crore, Nair said.

Nair said it was looking to expanding in various regions in India. Balaji Telefilms will look to air new shows on Sony, Sun TV and Doordarshan. It had been doing shows across the channels, and it was the absolute leader in the TV business. It does not have a show on Sony, and that was an opportunity, Nair said. They were also producing shows for Colors. Balaji was also looking at the DD slot policy, he said, adding that they would be bidding for a few slots there. In main GEC business, Balaji was doing good, he said.

After reporting a loss of Rs 28 crore as compared to profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3.92 crore for the corresponding year-ago quarter, Balaji is planning to launch 8-10 shows by FY17-end. Both, television and film segment released a weak set of numbers at Balaji this financial year. Nair said that the new shows have a much lower margin.

Nair said that they look at TV and films numbers separately, and if one sees the TV business year on year, it actually grew on a half-yearly basis. There were new shows that would come on board, so as one could compare it with last year when they had six shows, and they were going to do 10 shows.

Balaji released Great Grand Masti and collections were significantly affected due to piracy of the movie ahead of its theatrical release. When it came to film business, of course there had been a disappointment and, the current quarter saw the full impact of unfortunate incidents that happened with Balaji; Grand Masti ‘leaked’ 21 days before the theatrical release. Therefore, Grand Mastii and Flying Jat didn’t do well which reflected in the current quarter, Nair said.

About the TV business, Nair said that television business worked on a revolving quarter. There was a reduced margin in the quarter when a show was launched. So, it was ideal to analysed the TV business on annual basis.

Balaji’s plan was to get next releases of movies in the next fiscal year, he said, adding that its film business would likely book profit in FY18. On an annual basis, because Balaji was opening at 20-25 per cent, the gross margin would go up by 35 per cent, Nair said. On an annual basis, he said, Balaji could grow by about 20 per cent year on year. From the revenue point of view, that might be little lower because of other income which would be lower this year, he added.

November 30, 2016
‘Vibrant’ Sony Entertainment refreshes with new shows; ESPN to localise global shows

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures (SPN)’s general entertainment channel Sony Entertainment (SET), celebrating 21st anniversary, has carved a new brand identity and is undertaking a fresh look at programming to bolster its viewership base and build continuous viewing.

Now taking on new colours of purple, gold and orange, the new on-air display of SET is a plan to build a striking visual appeal for the Indian audience. The channel had a few years ago modified its packaging to convey content innovation and creative vision.Since 2015, however, SET has been trying hard to connect with viewers as it kept slipping on BARC reviews owing to the poor performance of its shows. SET was then highly dependent on Crime Patrol and CID, the Financial Express reported.

Sony Entertainment Television recently peaked to number three in the Hindi GEC urban ratings chart on BARC India with Mahabali Hanuman, The Kapil Sharma Show, Super Dancer and Kuch Rang Pyar ke Aise Bhi doing quite well.

The positioning SET plans to adopt is ‘When a relationship turns into partnership, life looks up and leaps forward’, and this is what it will reflect through its programming going ahead.

Its primary focus area will be to bolster the weekday line-u. The new strategy is to expand the programming hours from the existing 8-11pm to 7pm-12 midnight by bringing in new shows such as Moh Moh ke Dhaage and Peshwa Bajirao, among other.

In a bid to offer localised and differentiated content, ESPN, which operates in India as Sony ESPN, meantime is planning to customise its international shows such as SportsCenter’ and ‘Pardon the Interruption’ for the Indian market. ESPN at present offers the international version of ‘Pardon the Interruption’, a sports show compered by commentators Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser on Sony ESPN.

ESPN is also aiming to bring X Games to India, an annual sports event which focuses on action sports such as snowboarding and skateboarding. The US-based ESPN re-entered India in January 2016 and jointly launched new sports channels, a multi-sports website and a mobile app in partnership with Sony Pictures Networks.

The Indian sports sector is undergoing a sea change with a hike in viewership, sponsorship and participation in sports other than cricket as per a a report titled ‘The Business of Sports’, from consulting firm KPMG and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Sports sponsorship market in 2015 grew approximately 12% from a year ago to reach Rs 5,190 crore, the report stated.

November 29, 2016
‘Vibrant’ Sony Entertainment refreshes with new shows; ESPN to localise global shows

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures (SPN)’s general entertainment channel Sony Entertainment (SET), celebrating 21st anniversary, has carved a new brand identity and is undertaking a fresh look at programming to bolster its viewership base and build continuous viewing.

Now taking on new colours of purple, gold and orange, the new on-air display of SET is a plan to build a striking visual appeal for the Indian audience. The channel had a few years ago modified its packaging to convey content innovation and creative vision.Since 2015, however, SET has been trying hard to connect with viewers as it kept slipping on BARC reviews owing to the poor performance of its shows. SET was then highly dependent on Crime Patrol and CID, the Financial Express reported.

Sony Entertainment Television recently peaked to number three in the Hindi GEC urban ratings chart on BARC India with Mahabali Hanuman, The Kapil Sharma Show, Super Dancer and Kuch Rang Pyar ke Aise Bhi doing quite well.

The positioning SET plans to adopt is ‘When a relationship turns into partnership, life looks up and leaps forward’, and this is what it will reflect through its programming going ahead.

Its primary focus area will be to bolster the weekday line-u. The new strategy is to expand the programming hours from the existing 8-11pm to 7pm-12 midnight by bringing in new shows such as Moh Moh ke Dhaage and Peshwa Bajirao, among other.

In a bid to offer localised and differentiated content, ESPN, which operates in India as Sony ESPN, meantime is planning to customise its international shows such as SportsCenter’ and ‘Pardon the Interruption’ for the Indian market. ESPN at present offers the international version of ‘Pardon the Interruption’, a sports show compered by commentators Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser on Sony ESPN.

ESPN is also aiming to bring X Games to India, an annual sports event which focuses on action sports such as snowboarding and skateboarding. The US-based ESPN re-entered India in January 2016 and jointly launched new sports channels, a multi-sports website and a mobile app in partnership with Sony Pictures Networks.

The Indian sports sector is undergoing a sea change with a hike in viewership, sponsorship and participation in sports other than cricket as per a a report titled ‘The Business of Sports’, from consulting firm KPMG and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Sports sponsorship market in 2015 grew approximately 12% from a year ago to reach Rs 5,190 crore, the report stated.

November 29, 2016
Sony Pictures Networks India ups safety bar on TV sets

MUMBAI: TV production in India has been a bit of a bummer over the past few years: hazardous material constructed sets, loosely put together electrical connections, below par sanitation, and shoddy facilities have been the hallmarks of shooting floors. Safety measures for TV actors and crews have been sub-par. Accidents have sometimes got out of hand, and there have been several incidents over the years where crew have been injured or lost their lives. Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) is changing that at least on one front: having ambulances and clinics on all sets where TV shows or films are being shot.

Apparently, the company has hired one of India’s top emergency response services TopsLine to deploy 11 mobile clinics and ambulances at the sites of 16 shows where shooting is under way in Mumbai and its periphery. Why is SPN India suddenly getting a shot of corporate social responsibility?

Well, it’s part of its efforts to raise the bar and provide protection to those who work on the front lines to churn out the content that brings it ratings and revenues. A while ago SPN India officials had conversations with these folks on how they felt on the sets, and the reaction was pretty eye-opening. Most respondents said that, apart from wages, what they wanted was better hygiene and ablution facilities, apart from safety. That prompted the network to spring into action, taking the first of many more steps it intends to take in this direction.

The mobile medical vans are likely to cover around 1600 people at a stretch if one were to assume 90-100 people working on an average at each of its different sets at a time.

While TV industry professionals have lauded SPN India’s initiative, a lot more needs to be done says Hats Off Productions co-founder and the Indian Film & TV Producers Council TV division head JD Majethia. However, there are challenges, he admits.

“The nature of business is so different — the shooting sites are temporary structures; it’s difficult to make arrangements. Sites keep shifting, and sometimes the sets are on wheels,” says Majethia.

There is the lack of basic hygiene amongst the crew at times who chew tobacco, spit betel nut juice (pan) on the sets, which tends to dirty the area. Of course actors have their vanity vans, which keeps them ring fenced from the mess. But the crew has to bear with it all the same.

A problem that is faced by many a producer and production supervisors is providing proper lunch tables on locations. “On large shooting floors, if there are 100 people at work and everybody needs to be accommodated during lunch, it becomes difficult to manage, say 10 tables, in an hour’s time,” explains Majethia. Then, potable water, for example, is one of the issues that needs careful planning.

At times there is the mosquito menace at the shooting locations. And when the Dengue fever scare has been running rampant, this is indeed concerning. “In such situations, we often take the help of pest control services and also provide safety creams such as Odomos to all the actors and workers,” Majethia said.

Majethia once again lauded SPN India’s ambulance drive and added that the industry is constantly working with the various trade craft bodies to improve the lot of those on the sets. “And things can only get better from here,” he said.

November 28, 2016
Sony Pictures Networks India ups safety bar on TV sets

MUMBAI: TV production in India has been a bit of a bummer over the past few years: hazardous material constructed sets, loosely put together electrical connections, below par sanitation, and shoddy facilities have been the hallmarks of shooting floors. Safety measures for TV actors and crews have been sub-par. Accidents have sometimes got out of hand, and there have been several incidents over the years where crew have been injured or lost their lives. Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) is changing that at least on one front: having ambulances and clinics on all sets where TV shows or films are being shot.

Apparently, the company has hired one of India’s top emergency response services TopsLine to deploy 11 mobile clinics and ambulances at the sites of 16 shows where shooting is under way in Mumbai and its periphery. Why is SPN India suddenly getting a shot of corporate social responsibility?

Well, it’s part of its efforts to raise the bar and provide protection to those who work on the front lines to churn out the content that brings it ratings and revenues. A while ago SPN India officials had conversations with these folks on how they felt on the sets, and the reaction was pretty eye-opening. Most respondents said that, apart from wages, what they wanted was better hygiene and ablution facilities, apart from safety. That prompted the network to spring into action, taking the first of many more steps it intends to take in this direction.

The mobile medical vans are likely to cover around 1600 people at a stretch if one were to assume 90-100 people working on an average at each of its different sets at a time.

While TV industry professionals have lauded SPN India’s initiative, a lot more needs to be done says Hats Off Productions co-founder and the Indian Film & TV Producers Council TV division head JD Majethia. However, there are challenges, he admits.

“The nature of business is so different — the shooting sites are temporary structures; it’s difficult to make arrangements. Sites keep shifting, and sometimes the sets are on wheels,” says Majethia.

There is the lack of basic hygiene amongst the crew at times who chew tobacco, spit betel nut juice (pan) on the sets, which tends to dirty the area. Of course actors have their vanity vans, which keeps them ring fenced from the mess. But the crew has to bear with it all the same.

A problem that is faced by many a producer and production supervisors is providing proper lunch tables on locations. “On large shooting floors, if there are 100 people at work and everybody needs to be accommodated during lunch, it becomes difficult to manage, say 10 tables, in an hour’s time,” explains Majethia. Then, potable water, for example, is one of the issues that needs careful planning.

At times there is the mosquito menace at the shooting locations. And when the Dengue fever scare has been running rampant, this is indeed concerning. “In such situations, we often take the help of pest control services and also provide safety creams such as Odomos to all the actors and workers,” Majethia said.

Majethia once again lauded SPN India’s ambulance drive and added that the industry is constantly working with the various trade craft bodies to improve the lot of those on the sets. “And things can only get better from here,” he said.

November 28, 2016
Piracy severely dents Balaji consolidated numbers in Q2-17

BENGALURU: Despite almost doubling of year-over-year consolidated revenue for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q2-17, current quarter), Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms Limited (Balaji) reported a consolidated loss of Rs 28 crore, as compared to Profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3.92 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter. The company attributes higher revenue to four films it released in the half year ended 30 September 2016 (H!-17, current half-year) as compared to no releases in H1-16. Balaji says in its investor presentation that piracy of its movies Great Grand Masti and Udta Punjab led to an approximate loss of Rs 36 crore in revenues, severely impacting its profitability in the period.

The company reported 1.92 times higher revenue (TIO) in the current quarter at Rs 105.91 crore as compared to Rs 55.08 crore in Q2-16, and comparatively, just a little lower than the Rs 117.38 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q1-17.

Consolidated operating loss (negative EBIDTA) in Q2-17 was Rs 26.18 crore as compared to an operating profit (positive EBIDTA) in Q2-16 of Rs 6.33 crore.

On a standalone basis, Balaji Telefilms Limited (BTL) – the television arm reported lower a net profit of Rs 4.4 crore in the current quarter versus Rs 6.6 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. Standalone revenues for Q2-17 and Q2-16 were Rs 61.2 crore and Rs 53.2 crore respectively.

Revenue from BTL’s Commissioned Programs segment in Q2-17 was Rs 60.9 crore, while for Q2-16 it was Rs 48.3 crore. Programming hours for Q2-17 were 231 hours, significantly higher than the 199 hours reported for the corresponding year ago quarter. Net realisation per hour in Q2-17 was higher at Rs 26.3 lakh as compared to Rs 24.2 lakh in Q2-16. Gross margin and gross margin per hour were lower at Rs 14.7 crore and Rs 6.4 lakh in Q2-17 as compared to Rs 16.9 crore and Rs 8.5 lakh in Q2-16 respectively.

Balaji says that increase in programming hours in this quarter was due to certain special episodes being commissioned during the quarter for its daily soaps; realisation per hour has improved due to better episodic fees; Gross margins have improved this quarter and will continue to improve once the newer shows stabilise. Shows launched post Q2-17 were Naagin 2 on Colors, Chandra Nandni and Pardes Mein Hai Meraa Dill on Star Plus.

Revenue from Balaji’s digital business – ALT- was Nil as the company is getting ready to launch commercial services in early Q4 FY17. Other Income from ALT was Rs 3.3 crore in the current quarter as compared to Nil in Q2-16.

Revenue from Balaj’s movie business for Q2-17 was Rs 43.2 crore against Rs 1.6 crore in Q2-16. The movie business had an operating loss of Rs 28 crore in the current quarter. Operating loss in the corresponding year ago quarter was Rs 4.2 crore. Total amount invested as of 30 September 2016 in movies that are under production was Rs 44.1 crore says the company.

Total Expenditure in the current quarter almost tripled (by 2.94 times) y-o-y at Rs 134.96 crore (127.4 percent of TIO) as compared to Rs 45.85 crore (83.2 percent of TIO) in Q2-16. Cost of Production/Acquisition and Telecast Fees in Q2-17 was Rs 78.55 crore (74.2 percent of TIO), 2.1 percent lower than Rs 80.22 crore (145.6 percent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter.

Marketing and distribution expense in Q2-17 increased to Rs 19.55 crore as compared to Rs 0.16 crore in Q2-16. Employee Benefit Expense in the current quarter increased 36/9 percent y-o-y to Rs 6.81 crore (6/4 percent of TIO) as compared to Rs 4.97 crore (9 percent of TIO) in Q2-16. Other expenditure in Q2-17 increased 33.8 percent y-o-y to Rs 9.42 crore as compared to Rs 7/04 crore.

Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

November 25, 2016
Piracy severely dents Balaji consolidated numbers in Q2-17

BENGALURU: Despite almost doubling of year-over-year consolidated revenue for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q2-17, current quarter), Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms Limited (Balaji) reported a consolidated loss of Rs 28 crore, as compared to Profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3.92 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter. The company attributes higher revenue to four films it released in the half year ended 30 September 2016 (H!-17, current half-year) as compared to no releases in H1-16. Balaji says in its investor presentation that piracy of its movies Great Grand Masti and Udta Punjab led to an approximate loss of Rs 36 crore in revenues, severely impacting its profitability in the period.

The company reported 1.92 times higher revenue (TIO) in the current quarter at Rs 105.91 crore as compared to Rs 55.08 crore in Q2-16, and comparatively, just a little lower than the Rs 117.38 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q1-17.

Consolidated operating loss (negative EBIDTA) in Q2-17 was Rs 26.18 crore as compared to an operating profit (positive EBIDTA) in Q2-16 of Rs 6.33 crore.

On a standalone basis, Balaji Telefilms Limited (BTL) – the television arm reported lower a net profit of Rs 4.4 crore in the current quarter versus Rs 6.6 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. Standalone revenues for Q2-17 and Q2-16 were Rs 61.2 crore and Rs 53.2 crore respectively.

Revenue from BTL’s Commissioned Programs segment in Q2-17 was Rs 60.9 crore, while for Q2-16 it was Rs 48.3 crore. Programming hours for Q2-17 were 231 hours, significantly higher than the 199 hours reported for the corresponding year ago quarter. Net realisation per hour in Q2-17 was higher at Rs 26.3 lakh as compared to Rs 24.2 lakh in Q2-16. Gross margin and gross margin per hour were lower at Rs 14.7 crore and Rs 6.4 lakh in Q2-17 as compared to Rs 16.9 crore and Rs 8.5 lakh in Q2-16 respectively.

Balaji says that increase in programming hours in this quarter was due to certain special episodes being commissioned during the quarter for its daily soaps; realisation per hour has improved due to better episodic fees; Gross margins have improved this quarter and will continue to improve once the newer shows stabilise. Shows launched post Q2-17 were Naagin 2 on Colors, Chandra Nandni and Pardes Mein Hai Meraa Dill on Star Plus.

Revenue from Balaji’s digital business – ALT- was Nil as the company is getting ready to launch commercial services in early Q4 FY17. Other Income from ALT was Rs 3.3 crore in the current quarter as compared to Nil in Q2-16.

Revenue from Balaj’s movie business for Q2-17 was Rs 43.2 crore against Rs 1.6 crore in Q2-16. The movie business had an operating loss of Rs 28 crore in the current quarter. Operating loss in the corresponding year ago quarter was Rs 4.2 crore. Total amount invested as of 30 September 2016 in movies that are under production was Rs 44.1 crore says the company.

Total Expenditure in the current quarter almost tripled (by 2.94 times) y-o-y at Rs 134.96 crore (127.4 percent of TIO) as compared to Rs 45.85 crore (83.2 percent of TIO) in Q2-16. Cost of Production/Acquisition and Telecast Fees in Q2-17 was Rs 78.55 crore (74.2 percent of TIO), 2.1 percent lower than Rs 80.22 crore (145.6 percent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter.

Marketing and distribution expense in Q2-17 increased to Rs 19.55 crore as compared to Rs 0.16 crore in Q2-16. Employee Benefit Expense in the current quarter increased 36/9 percent y-o-y to Rs 6.81 crore (6/4 percent of TIO) as compared to Rs 4.97 crore (9 percent of TIO) in Q2-16. Other expenditure in Q2-17 increased 33.8 percent y-o-y to Rs 9.42 crore as compared to Rs 7/04 crore.

Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

November 25, 2016
ZEEL to acquire Reliance entertainment TV business

MUMBAI: After selling its sports telecast business to Sony, the Subhash Chandra-led Zee group is on an acquisition spree. Two separate developments today saw Zee, through two different corporate entities, take full control of the general entertainment TV business and 49 per cent stake in the radio business of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance ADA group.

With these developments, speculation too has been proved correct that Anil Ambani’s Reliance is fast reducing its exposure in the media sector. Some other group companies of Ambani also control a DTH operation run under the brand name Reliance BIG TV. Reliance Capital informed the stock exchanges that by shedding its radio and TV assets it will reduce its debt by approximately Rs. 1,900 crore (US$ 283 million) upon final completion of stake sale transactions.

The board of directors of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) today approved the acquisition of the general entertainment broadcasting business of Reliance Big Broadcasting Private Limited, Big Magic Limited and Azalia Broadcast Private Limited, all part of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group Entities.

The acquisition has been facilitated through a scheme of demerger and execution of definitive agreements in relation to such proposed acquisition. The general entertainment TV broadcasting business undertaking, along with its assets, liabilities, licenses, trademarks etc., shall get demerged from BIG Magic Ltd, Reliance Big Broadcasting Private Ltd and Azalia Broadcast Private Ltd into ZEEL through a court-approved scheme.

The TV broadcasting business of Reliance Group entities currently comprises two operational general entertainment channels — Hindi comedy channel BIG Magic and Bhojpuri-language GEC BIG Ganga — and four other TV licenses.

ZEEL MD & CEO Punit Goenka, in a statement said, “We are pleased to announce this acquisition which further adds to our expanding universe of general entertainment channels. BIG Magic gives us access to comedy genre enhancing our customer offerings. BIG Ganga syncs with our strategy of expanding into the regional markets, which offer attractive growth potential.”

According to Reliance Capital ED and Group CEO Sam Ghosh, “We are happy to divest 100 per cent of our general entertainment TV business to Zee Entertainment. This transaction is part of our strategy to reduce exposure in non-core businesses and work towards further reducing debt under Reliance Capital.”

The final acquisitions are subject to regulatory approvals and could take a year to be completed.

November 23, 2016