ITV

Tag: CNN-IBN

  • TV18 Broadcast returns to profitability in Q3

    TV18 Broadcast returns to profitability in Q3

    MUMBAI: TV18 Broadcast turned profitable in the third quarter ended 31 December on fall in operating expenditure and a small rise in operational income from a year earlier.

     

    TV18 Broadcast, which owns news channels CNBC TV18, CNB Awaaz, CNN IBN and IBN7, reported a net profit of Rs 223 million in the third quarter against a loss of Rs 138 million a year earlier. In the second quarter of this financial year, it had reported a loss of Rs 252 million.

     

    The company’s operating revenue rose 5 per cent to Rs 1.47 billion in the third quarter from Rs 1.40 billion a year earlier.

     

    The news broadcaster was able to report a profit in the third quarter as its operating expenses fell 16 per cent to Rs 1.09 billion from Rs 1.30 billion a year earlier, on lower staff costs, marketing and distribution expenses and flat production expenses.

     

    The company’s interest cost in the third quarter was Rs 216 million, flat compared to a year earlier but down by a sharp 51 per cent from a quarter earlier (Rs 365 million).

     

    The fall in interest cost was a result of part repayment of debt from the large flow of funds into the company through a rights issue in the previous quarter.

     

    Raghav Bahl, managing director, Network18, the holding company of TV18, said, “I am delighted …. that TV18 has returned to profitability this quarter. Our recast balance sheet has helped us rationalise our interest payouts.”

     

    “We are now entering an exciting phase in our journey as we strengthen our existing operations and consolidate our regional acquisition,” Bahl added.

     

    The rights issue was largely meant for the acquisition of ETV non-Telugu news and entertainment channels from Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

        
    B Saikumar, Group CEO at Network18, said, “We are extremely pleased that all our broadcast operations grew their margins despite softness in the advertising environment. The News Network will further consolidate its leadership position with the addition of ETV News to the stable.”

     

    Business News operations had a strong quarter with margins expanding almost three-fold from a year earlier.

     

    In the third quarter, revenues from business news channels were up nearly 10 per cent at Rs 780 million. Operating profit from business news was Rs 307 million, nearly three times a year earlier and two times a quarter earlier.

     

    The significant improvement in margins in business news operations came on the back of expansion of net distribution income, the company said.

     

    TV18’s general news operations broke into positive territory with 10 per cent margins. In the third quarter, revenues from general news operations were Rs 723 million, nearly flat compared with a year earlier. Operating profit from general news was Rs 69 million in the third quarter against a loss of Rs 16 million a year earlier and loss of Rs 33 million a year earlier.

  • 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.

  • Grey to handle creative duties of Network18’s corporate account

    MUMBAI: WPP owned ad agency Grey has won the creative duties for Network18’s corporate account

    The agency will handle the account from its Mumbai office.

    A multi-agency pitch was conducted prior to awarding the account to Grey.

    Grey recently won the creative mandate for In.com, which is part of Network18’s digital arm Web18.

    The agency will be responsible for brand building for the network and its first project will be along the lines of a corporate campaign in which the various arms, ventures and properties of the media conglomerate are likely to be leveraged.

    Network18 Group has operations across television, internet, entertainment, e-commerce, magazines and the mobile medium. The television operations include business news channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, general news channels CNN-IBN and IBN7, and IBN-Lokmat.

  • 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.

  • From headlines to reading between the lines

    From headlines to reading between the lines

    NEW DELHI: CNN-IBN today launched two new programmes – ‘The Last Word’, and ‘News 360’.

    While the first is a daily show aimed at getting to the heart of every burning issue and deciphering the day’s most important news, the second aims to present a complete news wrap of the day.

    To be presented by the irrepressible Karan Thapar, The Last Word is a primetime show which will delve into the major headlines of the day, focusing on adding depth to the current stories.

    The Last Word will have multiple guests on the show whose expertise will help in giving to the viewers an in-depth analysis of stories that made an impact across the country and the world. The show will be aired on CNN-IBN from Monday to Friday at 8 pm from tonight.

    ‘News 360’ will cover the top stories and all the news that has happened during the day. The fast paced news bulletin will be aired from Monday to Friday at 8:30 pm from tonight.

    Lesser views and more news is the mantra of ‘News 360’, as the show takes the viewers across India and globe and will focus on news from all genres including, National, Regional, International, Business, Sports & Entertainment.

    CNN-IBN Editor-in-ChiefRajdeep Sardesai said, “Karan Thapar is surely a man with vast experience and passion for truth. We really look forward to this version of The Last Word which will decode and analyze the daily news with the insightful perspective and sharpness of Karan Thapar.”

    He added: “With the demand for holistic news covering every sphere of the daily news, ‘News 360’ will be the ideal show to bring forth all genres of news giving the viewers the entire days news wrap-up”.

  • 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.

  • Blackberrys launches new TVC with the theme of ‘Go Sharp’

    Blackberrys launches new TVC with the theme of ‘Go Sharp’

    MUMBAI: The apparel brand Blackberrys has launched a new TV commercial that aims to bring to life the “Go Sharp” philosophy of the refurbished brand.


    The TVC is created by McCann Worldgroup TAG Ideation. It reiterates Blackberrys‘ position as a fashion brand.
     
    “Set in a surreal world, our protagonist is seen playfully dodging the paparazzi as soon as he adorns his Blackberrys. The geometric figures and the device of them getting slashed, even through an accidental touch by him, reiterate how everything is ‘cut to size‘ before our protagonist,” Blackberrys spokesperson said.


    The TVC also establishes a “near perfect consistency” with the still campaign. The international fashion looks and the Indian twist perfectly blends in to reflect the brand as well as audience.


    The company has also made a 3- minute Blackberrys music track.
     
    The company has identified that its TG is as much in metros, tier 1 as they are in tier 2 cities. “We also recognize the growing potential of the tier 2 market segment. Therefore, our choice of genres and channels have been basis this understanding of our audiences,” the company said.


    It is using various genres for TV promotions including movies, general entertainment, English and Hindi news, Hindi entertainment etc.


    “We will be present on the leading channels in each of these genres, some of which are NDTV India, AXN, Zee Business, NDTV Good Times, Max, Zoom, Discovery Network, CNBC TV 18, Awaaz, CNN IBN, IBN7, Star Movies, Zee Studio, Zee Café, NDTV 24 X 7, Times Now, and Star News,” the spokesperson said.

  • Blackberrys launches new TVC with the theme of ‘Go Sharp’

    Blackberrys launches new TVC with the theme of ‘Go Sharp’

    MUMBAI: The apparel brand Blackberrys has launched a new TV commercial that aims to bring to life the “Go Sharp” philosophy of the refurbished brand.


    The TVC is created by McCann Worldgroup TAG Ideation. It reiterates Blackberrys‘ position as a fashion brand.
     
    “Set in a surreal world, our protagonist is seen playfully dodging the paparazzi as soon as he adorns his Blackberrys. The geometric figures and the device of them getting slashed, even through an accidental touch by him, reiterate how everything is ‘cut to size‘ before our protagonist,” Blackberrys spokesperson said.


    The TVC also establishes a “near perfect consistency” with the still campaign. The international fashion looks and the Indian twist perfectly blends in to reflect the brand as well as audience.


    The company has also made a 3- minute Blackberrys music track.
     
    The company has identified that its TG is as much in metros, tier 1 as they are in tier 2 cities. “We also recognize the growing potential of the tier 2 market segment. Therefore, our choice of genres and channels have been basis this understanding of our audiences,” the company said.


    It is using various genres for TV promotions including movies, general entertainment, English and Hindi news, Hindi entertainment etc.


    “We will be present on the leading channels in each of these genres, some of which are NDTV India, AXN, Zee Business, NDTV Good Times, Max, Zoom, Discovery Network, CNBC TV 18, Awaaz, CNN IBN, IBN7, Star Movies, Zee Studio, Zee Café, NDTV 24 X 7, Times Now, and Star News,” the spokesperson said.

  • TV news coverage of corruption issues up 11 times: CMS study

    TV news coverage of corruption issues up 11 times: CMS study

    MUMBAI: Television news channels are crusading against corruption as never before. Corruption coverage in primetime bulletins by the six television news channels during 2005 to 2011 have grown over eleven times in terms of percentage, a research study by CMS (Centre For Media Studies) Media Lab reveals.

    Though the coverage of corruption-related issues by TV news channels as well as newspapers have increased substantially, especially during Anna Hazare‘s fast in August, petty corruption involving vulnerable sections of people are yet to become a concern for the media.

    The study – ‘Face of Corruption in News Media 2011‘ – says that the priority is for scams and scandals rather than for systematic issues and correctives that need to be pursued. The far off and grassroots level corruption hardly figured.

    It said the coverage related to corruption issues was well over eight per cent of primetime and six per cent of front pages from January-June 2011, but during Anna‘s fast the coverage overall went up to over 60 per cent of primetime of news channels and mostly live coverage.

    “Reporting on corruption in news media between the year 2010 and 2011 has doubled. However, during July – September of 2011 alone the coverage has more than tripled,” noted CMS director PN Vasanti in the report. “Since the Anna Hazare crusade, there are initiatives all around and all across the states towards curb, contain corruption and the compulsions. With the kind of spread of e-seva and e-governance services, and transparency movement gaining ground, hopefully news media would take up reporting these in 2012 and expedite the process of decline of corruption.”  
         
      Mainstream news media attached priority to scams and scandals involving high-profile personalities. “Most of the corruption covered in 2011 involved individuals, but with high profiles and of high scams. English channels focused relatively more – both on institutions and individuals; while Hindi news channels focused relatively more on individuals in their coverage of corruption,” the report stated.

    The study pointed out that there were seven scandals, which were reported more often in the stories of news media – channels, newspapers and radio – during the period of the study. Of these, four were to do with government (2G, CWG, Adarsh, Bofors), two were to do with civil society (Ramdev and Anna Hazare) and two (Hasan Ali and Citi Bank) were from private / corporate.

    “The news channels focused more on scams referring to politicians and bureaucrats and to big public utilities / services (like CWG, DGCA, GNDA, etc). CNN-IBN had only 21 percent for covering such corruption against as high 90 percent of Aaj Tak and 81 percent by Star News. Even DD News had 42 percent coverage to do with corruption involving or referring to bureaucrats. In all, major stories covered by news media were analysed. By and large they were all chasing the same stories, and even same way,” said the report.

    This CMS Media Lab study for January – June 2011 involves analysis of primetime (7– 11 pm) coverage of corruption by news media. It includes front pages of six newspapers (Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasjar, Hindustan, The Hindu, The Times of India and Hindustan Times), six news channels (NDTV 24×7, CNN-IBN, Zee News, Star News, DD News and Aaj Tak) and AIR news.