ITV

Tag: CNBC AWAAZ

  • Dish TV threatens IndiaCast with legal action

    Dish TV threatens IndiaCast with legal action

    MUMBAI: The Dish TV vs IndiaCast battle has just taken an ugly turn. India’s oldest DTH operator has fired a salvo at the aggregator by issuing a statement that claims that it has issued a legal notice to it for “the false and malafide advertisement that it issued today.”

     
    It has asked IndiaCast to cease and desist from “spreading false and malafide information” regarding channels on DishTV. 

    “All necessary steps including criminal and civil actions against Indiacast UTV and its functionaries are being contemplated,” says a Dish TV spokesperson.

    However, an IndiaCast spokesperson said that they haven’t yet received any notice from Dish TV.

    Readers may recollect that leading Indian newspapers today carried a public notice from IndiaCast stating that channels it distributes might be discontinued from Dish TV subscribers’ packages from 1 January and replaced with movies on demand unless customers message or call the DTH operator clearly saying they wanted to continue receiving them. The ads asked them to call up Dish TV or in the alternative subscribe to another cable TV or DTH service. Promos along the same lines have also been running on all the IndiaCast channels. 

    IndiaCast had issued the ad keeping in mind that DishTV is running an “on-request channel” campaign which will see channels being unsubscribed unless subscribers opt for them. The DTH operator is also rewarding subscribers with points if they choose to unsubscribe from IndiaCast channels which they can use to watch movies. 

    The channels that are mentioned in the IndiaCast notice include:  Colors, CNBC TV 18, MTV, CNN IBN, Bindass, Nick, IBN7, CNBC Awaaz, UTV Movies, History TV, Disney, Hungama, Sonic, Disney XD, UTV Action, Comedy Central, VH1, UTV World Movies, Nick Jr, Disney Junior and IBN Lokmat.

  • Network18 beefs up business news editorial set up

    Network18 beefs up business news editorial set up

    MUMBAI: It’s taking steps to strengthen its business news team. For starters, it has announced the appointment of Network18 long timer (currently president & editorial director TV18 Business Media) Senthil Chengalvarayan as the editor in chief of what it calls the Network18 Business Newsroom – comprising its market leading broadcast and digital news outlets in the business media space, CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC-TV18 Prime HD and Moneycontrol.com. The newsroom is slated to act as a common hub to ensure seamless broadcast and digital synergies from both a newsgathering and output perspective across these brands, which cumulatively attract over 40 million viewers and 15 million unique visitors on an average every month, says a company press release.

    In this new capacity, Senthil will be working closely with R. Jagannathan, editor-In-chief of Network18’s web and publishing stable which includes Moneycontrol.com, CNBC Awaaz editor in chief Sanjay Pugalia, CNBC Awaaz and the editorial leads at CNBC-TV18.

    The management has also pushed senior editors Menaka Doshi and Latha Venkatesh upstairs as executive editors. While Menaka will lead corporate reportage, law and associated areas, Latha Venkatesh will take charge of the banking and financial markets vertical.

    Women Power to the forefront at CNBCTV18: ( Left to Right) Latha Venkatesh, Shreen Bhan and Menka Doshi

     

    		  

    This follows managing editor Udayan Mukherjee’s decision to work with the group in an exclusive consultative capacity and the appointment of Shereen Bhan as his replacement.

    “As the country’s leading broadcast and digital player in business news, we are well-positioned to redefine the category in the context of a converging media landscape. The Network18 Business Newsroom is designed to capitalise on the deep engagement and trust our iconic brands enjoy. We are confident that the editorial leadership team under Senthil’s guidance will be able to craft a new paradigm in business media, ” said Network18 founder and editor Raghav Bahl in the press release making these announcements.

    “..As they (CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and Moneycontrol) propel ahead in their growth journey, it is imperative that we fuse their editorial strengths in a manner that enhances our offering further and the Network18 Business Newsroom fulfills this objective. In Senthil, Menaka and Latha, we have the most trusted voices in business journalism today and we believe that they will bring their deep expertise and insights to bear at the Newsroom,” added Network18 Group COO B. Sai Kumar.

    “I am a firm believer in the benefit that the Network18 Business Newsroom can unleash for our stellar editorial products. We pioneered business news on television and the web in India and the Newsroom is a natural extension of our successful journey,“ expounded Network18 Business Newsroom editor-in-chief Senthil Chengalvarayan. “I believe that it will achieve two critical objectives for us. It’ll ensure that each of our brands access the best editorial expertise across the Group while they continue to fulfill their distinct editorial propositions. And they’ll do so through a structure that capitalises on the new realities in the media landscape.”

    		    
       
  • TV18 reports loss from news biz for 2nd successive quarter

    TV18 reports loss from news biz for 2nd successive quarter

    MUMBAI: TV18 Broadcast Ltd’s news business reported net loss for the second straight quarter in the year ended 30 September on a sharp rise in interest cost.

    The Network18 subsidiary’s net loss from news business was Rs 252 million in the second quarter and Rs 78 million in the first quarter of this year. In the second quarter of previous year, TV18 had a net profit of Rs 78 million and in the whole of 2011-12, its net profit was Rs 92 million.

    Its interest cost more than doubled to Rs 365 million in the second quarter from Rs 178 million a year earlier.

    The news segment’s operating revenue and operating expenses were both down by 14 per cent in the second quarter compared with a year earlier. Its operating revenue was down to Rs 1.09 billion from Rs 1.27 billion a year earlier, while operating expenses fell to Rs 952 million from Rs 1.10 billion a year earlier.

    TV18 standalone’s operating profit fell 13.50 per cent to Rs 147 million in the second quarter from Rs 170 million a year earlier.

    Revenues from business news as well as general news businesses were down in the second quarter. Revenues from business news were down 16 per cent to Rs 519 million in the second quarter from Rs 619 million a year earlier and from general news down 11.71 per cent to Rs 603 million from Rs 683 million a year earlier.

    TV18 business news’ operating profit in the second quarter was flat at Rs 169 million against Rs 163 million a year earlier. Its general news division’s operating loss widened in the second quarter to Rs 33 million from Rs 7 million a year earlier. In the first quarter of this year, general news segment had reported an operating profit of Rs 22 million.

    TV18 Broadcast results include financials of news channels CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNN IBN and IBN7.

  • Promoters’ stake in Network18 rises to 73% after rights issue

    Promoters’ stake in Network18 rises to 73% after rights issue

    MUMBAI: Raghav Bahl’s stake in Network18 has soared to 73 per cent after a muted response from the other shareholders to the rights issue but it is still not clear how much control Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will have indirectly over the sprawling media company which has interests in television, internet, films, digital commerce, magazines, mobile content and allied businesses.

    RIL’s Independent Media Trust (IMT) was to provide the money the promoters of Network18 would require to subscribe to shares in the rights issues of both Network18 and TV18. The details of funds lent by IMT through investments in zero coupon optionally convertible debentures (ZOCDs) issued by the promoter companies are not yet available.

    A minimum amount of Rs 9.96 billion borrowed from IMT would result in a 51 per cent stake in the promoter companies of Network18 on conversion of the ZOCDs.

    Following the closure of the rights issue on 4 October, the promoter holding in Network18 Media & Investments Ltd has jumped by 51 per cent from its earlier stake of 48.30 per cent.

    This follows the increase in stakes of the six promoter companies which subscribed to the promoters’ entitlement in the rights issue and also to the rights entitlement unsubscribed by non-promoter shareholders.

    After the rights issue, the shareholding of the six promoter companies in Network18 has increased to 66.16 per cent from 36.90 per cent. After including the shareholding of other promoter group holdings, the total promoter stake in Network18 after the rights issue is 73 per cent.

    The six promoter companies are RRB Mediasoft, RB Mediasoft, RB Media Holdings, Watermark Infratech, Colorful Media and Adventure Marketing. These promoter companies are owned and controlled by Bahl, founder of Network18 group, and wife Ritu Kapur.

    Network18’s subsidiary TV18 Broadcast Ltd operates news channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat (a Marathi regional news channel in partnership with the Lokmat group of newspapers).

    TV18 also operates a joint venture with Viacom, called Viacom18, which houses a portfolio of popular entertainment channels – Colors, Colors HD, MTV, Sonic, Comedy Central, VH1 and Nick – and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the group’s filmed entertainment business.

    Network18 offered 307 shares for every 50 shares held by its shareholders at a price of Rs 30 per share. Its subsidiary TV18’s rights issue of 41 shares for every 11 shares held by its shareholders at a price of Rs 20 per share closed on 15 October, but the details of the issue are still not available.

  • TV18’s general news biz posts maiden operating profit in Q1

    TV18’s general news biz posts maiden operating profit in Q1

    MUMBAI: TV18 Broadcast’s general news business, comprising CNN IBN and IBN7, has swung into operating profit for the first time as fiscal-first quarter revenue grew at a healthy 11 per cent under a tough economic climate.

    The segment‘s operating profit stood at Rs 22 million for the three months ended 30 June 2012 against a loss of Rs 5 million a year earlier.

    The segment’s revenues climbed to Rs 679 million from Rs 614 million.

    TV18 Broadcast said operating margin of the general news business improved to 3 per cent in the first quarter from a negative of one per cent a year ago.

    English news channel CNN IBN was launched in December 2005, while Hindi news channel IBN7 is the rebranded version of Channel 7, which was acquired by Network18 in 2006 from Jagran group.

    The business news operations – CNBC 18 and CNBC Awaaz – continued to be TV18 Broadcast’s crown jewel with revenues of Rs 718 million in the first quarter of 2012-13, up from Rs 681 million a year earlier. Operating profit from business news operations increased to Rs 208 million in the first quarter from Rs 175 million in the earlier year.

    The operating margin for business news improved to 29 per cent from 26 per cent. TV18 Broadcast’s operating profit for the overall news business in the first quarter rose 27 per cent to Rs 232 million.

    Network18 MD Raghav Bahl said, “After a strong phase of investment in building our portfolio of channels, TV18 has now entered a consolidation phase and we are focused on creating value for all our stakeholders. Even though the broader macroeconomic environment remains challenging and uncertain, the Indian broadcasting industry is enthused by the enormous opportunity that digitisation presents.”

    “At TV18, we are confident that with our distribution venture – IndiaCast, we are well poised to claim our rightful share of the opportunity. After we complete our proposed strategic stake acquisition in ETV and the proposed twin rights issues (subject to regulatory approvals), we believe that our strong television footprint will propel us to the next phase of our growth.”

    Even though its general news business reported an operating profit, TV18 Broadcast reported a net loss of Rs 78 million in the first quarter against a net profit of Rs 235 million a year earlier, as its interest cost rose to Rs 291 million (from Rs 210 million). TV18 Broadcast was helped in reporting net profit in the first quarter of the previous fiscal by high other income of Rs 337 million compared to Rs 41 million in the quarter ended 30 June 2012.

    In the exit quarter of the previous fiscal, TV18 Broadcast had reported a net loss of Rs 83 million.

    TV18 Broadcast’s revenue from news business rose 7.20 per cent to Rs 1.36 billion in the first quarter from Rs 1.27 billion a year earlier. The company’s income from operations stood at 1.22 billion, up 5.17 per cent.

    Operating expenses for the news business saw a minor jump to Rs 1.14 billion from Rs 1.09 billion a year earlier due to rise in staff costs to Rs 380 million from Rs 320 million. Marketing, distribution and promotional expenses, however, fell to Rs 333 million from Rs 373 million a year ago.

  • TV18’s national news biz achieves break even in FY’12

    TV18’s national news biz achieves break even in FY’12

    MUMBAI: The national news business of TV18 Broadcast continues to be operationally profitable, even if the bottom line is in red. The company said that the national news business of TV18 Broadcast has attained break-even status while losses continue to kick in from regional news operations.

    General News (CNN-IBN, IBN7 & 50% of Lokmat)

    TV18’s general news operations on a combined level posted an operating loss of Rs 17 million for the fourth quarter, narrowing it from Rs 22 million in the earlier year. However, this is marginally higher than the fiscal-third quarter when the operating loss was Rs 16 million.

    Revenue rose to Rs 916 million, from Rs 705 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

    For the full-fiscal, revenue stood at Rs 3.03 billion, up from Rs 2.52 billion a year ago. The operating loss stood at Rs 44 million, narrowing from Rs 122 million in FY’11.

    “Our general news operations performed particularly well in a highly competitive market and our revenues for the full year grew by 20 per cent. Our national news operations are now break-even,” the company said.

    Business News (CNBC TV18 and CNBC Awaaz)

    Operating profit from the business news segment for the final quarter of the fiscal has narrowed to Rs 157 million, from Rs 289 million a year ago.

    Revenue stood at Rs 1.03 billion, up from Rs 950 million.

    For the full-fiscal, revenue tood at Rs 3.32 billion, up from Rs 3.06 billion a year ago. Operating profit was down to Rs 604 million, from Rs 880 million.

    “Business news operations delivered a strong quarter driven by the Union Budget quarter. Our flagship coverage of key events such as the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in January and programming around the Union Budget in February and March as well as coverage on the Budget Day itself was very well received by our audiences,” the company said.

    TV News biz as a whole (CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNN IBN and IBN7)

    On a standalone basis, TV18 posted a net loss of Rs 83 million for the quarter compared to Rs 114 million a year ago.

    Income from operations jumped to Rs 1.92 billion, from Rs 688 million. Advertising revenue stood at Rs 1.48 billion (from Rs 641 million), while subscription revenue was Rs 321 million, up from Rs 38 million.

    Operating expenses jumped to Rs 1.77 billion, from Rs 687 million as its spend on marketing, distribution and promotional expenses and production expenses surged almost three times.

    The company has not provided the financial results of Lokmat18, where it holds 50 per cent stake and Lokmat the remaining half, separately this time.

    Infotaiment (History18)

    The operating loss from intotainment channel History18 (AETN18 is a 50:50 JV between A&E TV Network and TV18 which runs History18) stood at Rs 154 million.

    Revenue from infotainment channel History18, which was launched in the third quarter of the fiscal, stood at Rs 63 million.

    TV18’s combined operating loss from news operations and infotainment was Rs 14 million, reversing from a profit of Rs 259 million in the earlier-year quarter. Revenue grew to Rs 2.01 billion compared to Rs 1.65 billion a year ago.

    Consolidated results

    On a consolidated basis, TV18 Broadcast (the name of the listed company) posted a net loss of Rs 334 million for the fiscal fourth quarter, mainly due to new channel launches (Sonic, Comedy Central and Colors HD). The company’s consolidated net loss in the same quarter of the earlier year stood at Rs 132 million.

    Revenue jumped to Rs 5.12 billion, from Rs 2.06 billion a year ago. Advertising revenue (including TIFC and motion pictures) was at Rs 3.12 billion (from Rs 1.64 billion), while subscription revenue stood at Rs 646 million, from Rs 241 million in the year ago period.

    Expenses during the quarter jumped to Rs 5.58 billion, from Rs 1.98 billion.

    For the full fiscal, consolidated net loss widened to Rs 738 million, from Rs 174 million. Revenue stood at Rs 14.23 billion (from Rs 8.04 billion). For the full fiscal, advertising revenue stood at Rs 10.50 billion, while subscription revenue was at Rs 1.90 billion.

    Expenses during the fiscal doubled to Rs 14.72 billion, compared to Rs 7.57 billion in the previous fiscal.

    TV18’s consolidated numbers include 100 per cent standalone and AETN18, 50 per cent share of Viacom18 and 50 per cent share of IBN Lokmat. 

    The company’s shares closed Wednesday at Rs 25.4 on the BSE, up 0.99 per cent.

  • TV18 posts Q2 net profit of Rs 78 mn from news biz

    TV18 posts Q2 net profit of Rs 78 mn from news biz

    MUMBAI: The news business of TV18 is continuing to show positive momentum. The company has posted a net profit of Rs 78 million for the quarter ended 30 September compared to a net loss (performa basis) of Rs 170 million in the year-ago period.

    TV18 said that the numbers for the previous year and quarters are for IBN18 standalone before implementation of the ‘Scheme of Arrangement’ and hence not comparable.

    The net profit from the news business stood at Rs 230 million for the trailing quarter.

    Operating revenue in Q2 jumped to Rs 1.44 billion from Rs 520 million.Expenditure, however, also doubled to Rs 1.27 billion, as against Rs 590 million that the company incurred in the earlier year.

    TV18’s news business consists of CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and two IBN18 news channels – CNN IBN and IBN7.

    Operating profit of the company stood at Rs 170 million, compared to an operating loss of Rs 70 million a year ago. This, however, included pre-operative losses of Rs 57 million on account of AETN18.

    TV18 also reported the business news (CNBC TV18 and CNBC Awaaz) and general news (CNN IBN and IBN7) numbers separately.

    In general news, revenue for the fiscal second-quarter stood at Rs 722 million (up from Rs 530 million). However, the company incurred operating loss of Rs 7 million from the segment. TV18 also said that national news operations have achieved break-even and loss is coming from regional news operations.

    In the business news segment, revenue stood at Rs 737 million (from Rs 680 million), while operating profit fell to Rs 163 million, from Rs 210 million a year ago.

    TV18 has a net debt of Rs 6.84 billion as of 30 September.

  • TV18 posts Q1 net profit of Rs 230 mn from news bi

    TV18 posts Q1 net profit of Rs 230 mn from news bi

    MUMBAI: Post restructuring, the news business of TV18 is continuing to show positive momentum. The company has posted a net profit of Rs 230 million for the quarter ended June, compared with a net loss (performa basis) of Rs 190 million in the year-ago period.

    Operating revenue grew 146 per cent to Rs 1.28 billion from Rs 520 million. Expenditure doubled to Rs 1.09 billion, compared with Rs 590 million that the company had incurred in the earlier year.

    Post restructuring, TV18 news business consist of CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and two IBN18 news channels – CNN IBN and IBN7.

    Meanwhile, operating profit of the company stood at Rs 180 million, compared to operating loss of Rs 70 million a year ago.TV18 said that the numbers for the previous year and quarters are for IBN18 standalone before implementation of the ‘Scheme of Arrangement’ and hence not comparable.

    TV18 also reported the business news (CNBC TV18 and CNBC Awaaz) and general news (CNN IBN and IBN7) numbers separately.

    In general news, revenue for the fiscal first-quarter stood at Rs 620 million, up from Rs 540 million). The company did not report the operating loss from the segment.

    In the business news segment, revenue stood at Rs 680 million (from Rs 640 million), while operating profit stayed flat at Rs 160 million.

    TV18 has a net debt of Rs 6.70 billion.

  • TV18 standalone Q3 net profit at Rs 120 mn

    TV18 standalone Q3 net profit at Rs 120 mn

    MUMBAI: Television18, the company that houses business news channels CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, has posted a better third-quarter result due to an upswing in revenues.

    For the three months ended December, TV18 has posted a standalone net profit (after tax and minority interest, before ESOP charge out) of Rs 120 million compared to a net loss of Rs 150 million in the previous year quarter. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 90 million in the trailing quarter.

    Revenue from news operations at Rs 790 million stands 17.91 per cent higher than the year-ago period. For the trailing quarter, TV18‘s standalone revenue was at Rs 680 million.

    Operating expenses for the quarter stood at Rs 560 million (from Rs 510 million a year ago). However, it is much higher than the trailing quarter, which was at Rs 470 million.

    Meanwhile, TV18 improved its operating margins to 29 per cent from prior year’s 25 per cent.  
         
      On a consolidated basis, TV18, which also includes financials of Web18,
    Infomedia18 and Newswire18, has posted a net profit (after tax and minority interest, before ESOP charge out) of Rs 80 million. For the same quarter of the previous year, the net loss stood at Rs 400 million.

    Revenue from consolidated operations went up to Rs 1.47 billion as compared to Rs 1.29 billion a year ago. Expenses stood at Rs 1.27 billion, from Rs 1.20 billion in the earlier year.

    Meanwhile, Web18, the subsidiary that houses all the websites of the group, has seen operational breakeven in the quarter under review. The revenue from operations grew to Rs 220 million, while expenses also remained at 220 million.

    In Infomedia18, the net loss for the quarter stood at Rs 70 million, down from Rs 90 million in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

    Revenue jumped to Rs 360 million (from Rs 330 million), while expenses stood at Rs 410 million, from Rs 380 million a year ago.

    In Newswire18, revenue rose to Rs 100 million, from Rs 80 million a year ago. The company did not disclose net profit (or loss) of the segment. The expenses were at Rs 90 million while operating profit was at Rs 20 million.
     

  • TV18 Q2 standalone net at Rs 90 mn, revenue up 5%

    TV18 Q2 standalone net at Rs 90 mn, revenue up 5%

    MUMBAI: Television18, which runs leading business news channels CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, has managed a second consecutive profitable quarter, signaling a rebound in the economy.

    On a standalone basis, TV18 has posted a net profit (after tax and minority interest, before ESOP charge out) of Rs 60 million for the quarter ended 30 September, as compared to a net loss of Rs 330 million a year ago.

    Recovering from the slow down, revenue from news operations saw a marginal 4.6 per cent increase to Rs 680 million, as against Rs 650 million in the corresponding quarter of FY‘10.

    On a sequential basis, the company’s revenue has increased 6.25 per cent as compared to Rs 640 million in Q1.

    Operating expenses were kept under check (down 19 per cent) at Rs 470 million in the quarter under review on Y-o-Y basis (as compared to Rs 580 million).

    Meanwhile, the operating margin of the company jumped to 31 per cent in the quarter under review, compared to 11 per cent in the prior-year period. 
    On a consolidated basis, TV18, which also includes financials of Web18, Infomedia18 and Newswire18, has posted a net loss of Rs 140 million. For the same quarter of the previous year, net loss stood at Rs 560 million.

    Total revenue from consolidated operations jumped 17 per cent to Rs 1.45 billion, as compared to Rs 1.24 billion a year ago. Expenses stood at Rs 1.33 billion, up 3.11 per cent.

    The company announced that all its business have seen revenue growth – five per cent in News Operations, 21 per cent in Web18, 24 per cent in Newswire18 and 35 per cent in Infomedia18.

    The company has also posted an operating profit of Rs 120 million, as against operatin loss of Rs 50 million. However, it said that profits “offset by continued investments” in Infomedia18 and Web18.

    Web18, the subsidiary that houses all the websites of the group, posted a revenue of Rs 190 million (from Rs 160 million a year ago), while expenses remained almost flat at Rs 200 million (from Rs 210 million) during the quarter. The operating loss narrowed to Rs 10 million, from Rs 50 million in the year-ago period.

    In Infomedia18, however, the net loss has increased to Rs 160 million, from Rs 40 million in the corresponding quarter of FY ’10. Revenue has increased to Rs 480 million, from Rs 350 million, while expenses climbed to Rs 570 million from Rs 420 million a year ago.

    In Newswire18, revenue has grown to Rs 100 million, while expenses also stood at Rs 100 million, making it a no profit-no loss unit.