ITV

Tag: financial results

  • Amazon hikes Prime membership fees in US

    Amazon hikes Prime membership fees in US

    Mumbai: Amazon has hiked the subscription fees for Prime membership in the US. The announcement was made during the fourth quarter financial results for 2021 held on Thursday.  The company has raised annual prices from $119 to $139 and monthly prices from $12.99 to $14.99. 

    This is Amazon’s first price increase in four years and will go into effect on 18 February. However, the hike does not apply to the Amazon standalone Prime Video option that continues to be offered at $8.99 per month. Recently, the company hiked Prime membership fees in India from Rs 999 to Rs 1499.

    When asked whether the company intends to hike prices in other markets, Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky replied, “We look at the relative price to the customer versus our cost to supply that and the usage and the value that we’re creating for customers. We felt, especially after not raising the price in the United States since 2018 that the time was right to raise it. And we think it’s a much more valuable program today than it was in 2020, let alone 2018. So, other countries, we’ll continue to evaluate every year and nothing else to announce right now.”

    In April 2021, Amazon shared that it had about 200 million Prime members worldwide. While in the fourth quarter, the management team at the company did not share an updated guidance on the number of prime users, Olsavsky said, “On the consumer side, we welcomed millions of new Prime members in both the United States and international during the quarter, while continuing to see consistently high member renewal rates across geographies.”

    Amazon has tripled its original releases since 2018 and will release its anticipated series ‘The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power’ series in September this year. Prime Video debuted 28 local originals internationally including India in the fourth quarter. The OTT platform also saw its strongest viewership for live sports globally during the quarter. Notably, Prime Video made its foray into live sports in India by streaming cricket matches between New Zealand and Bangladesh in the fourth quarter.

  • Sports not the only way to grow OTT business: Punit Goenka

    Sports not the only way to grow OTT business: Punit Goenka

    Mumbai: “Sports is not the only way to grow the OTT business,” remarked Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) MD and CEO Punit Goenka in an investor call on Wednesday. Zeel posted its third quarter financial results for the fiscal 2022. The company’s OTT platform Zee5 crossed 100 million monthly active users (MAUs) for the first time.

    While responding to a question on how acquisition of sports content will grow the OTT business, Goenka replied, “Until now we have not factored in sports in our OTT business. It is a faster way to grow the business but can it be done without sports? Certainly.”

    Streaming platform Zee5 posted impressive metrics during the quarter garnering 101.9 million MAUs and 9.6 million daily active users (DAUs) growing sequentially and over last year in terms of both MAUs and DAUs. The watch time on the platform also significantly improved to reach 201 minutes which is up by 15 minutes quarter-on-quarter. Zee5 released 51 shows out of which 11 were originals during the quarter.  The platform’s strong performance was registered on the back of a compelling slate of content launched during the quarter and enhanced user experience, said Goenka.

    Meanwhile, the merger process initiated between Sony Pictures Networks India and Zeel in December is making steady progress. The company noted that it will apply to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) after receiving necessary approvals for its scheme by the stock exchanges. Furthermore, the company will seek the approval for the scheme from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in parallel.

    On the linear business side, all India viewership share of the network decreased by 40 bps to 17.3 per cent. During the quarter, the company launched 25+ shows across markets resulting in lower margins. “There have been significant investments in content this fiscal which in turn will reflect in our margins in the short term,” noted Goenka. “This is in line with the content strategy implemented across various genres. As we launch new shows across markets to drive viewership on the linear side we will post strong growth across viewer metrics.”

    “Advertising spending and consumer sentiment saw a significant boost in demand and we see this trend continue as we move forward,” he observed.

    Also read: Zeel reports Rs 21,126 million revenue in Q3’FY22 | Indian Television Dot Com

    Zeel posted an increase in revenues by seven per cent quarter on quarter but saw a slight decline of three per cent year on year in the third quarter of 2021. Both subscription and advertising revenues were lower compared to the same period last year.  

    “In the previous fiscal, we were recovering from a nationwide lockdown which had led to a huge pent-up demand,” explained Goenka. “On subscription revenue, the embargo on pricing has significantly impacted the overall growth across the industry. With NTO 2.0 implementation pushed to the next fiscal year, it is still too early to predict how FY 2023 will look.”

    He added, “In the last 12 months to 15 months the pay TV market has seen an erosion of 4.6 million households which have moved from pay TV to free to air and this is largely caused by the pandemic situation. That’s the cause of further degrowth in subscription revenues. The total TV business has reduced both in terms of reach and revenues on account of a slowdown in the movie business. The lack of fresh movie content for the last two years on the linear side has definitely had an impact. We’ve also had a cricket world cup which impacts movie viewership.

    Speaking about the impact of NTO 2.0 on subscription revenues he said, “It’s still too early to predict. We’re in an uncertain environment with regards to NTO 2.0 implementation. We need a 45-day window to implement and we’re already on 2 February. We must get a clear go ahead on implementation of NTO 2.0 by 15 February.”

    Zee Studios released five films during the quarter out of which one was Hindi and the rest were in regional languages. The movie business faced pandemic induced headwinds but overall opening of theatres and strong pipeline of films augured well for the movie industry at large, said Goenka. “Our studios business has a strong pipeline of films for the year ahead and we are hopeful that the third wave of the pandemic will subside soon, encouraging consumers to return to the big screen. We remain hopeful for an improvement in creative revenues for the subsequent three quarters.”  

    On the impact of the third wave, he said, “The third wave and surge of infections in 2022 could potentially have an impact on the fourth quarter results although it is too early to predict the outcome. The faster rate of recovery during this wave assures the quick resumption of services and activities across markets. We are hopeful that we will end the financial year registering steady growth across our businesses.”

    Zeel posted Rs 21,126 million in the quarter out of which advertising revenue stood at Rs 12,608 million and subscription revenue at Rs 7902 million. Zee5 posted quarterly revenues of Rs 1459 million which is up by 11.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

  • Vodafone Idea reports consolidated loss of Rs 7,231 cr in Q3

    Vodafone Idea reports consolidated loss of Rs 7,231 cr in Q3

    Mumbai: Vodafone Idea on Friday reported a consolidated loss of Rs 7,230.9 crore for the third quarter ending December 2021. This is up from Rs 4,532.1 crore that the telecom major reported in the corresponding quarter previous year.

    It had posted a net consolidated loss of Rs 7,132 crore in the September quarter of 2021.

    The company’s revenues also declined to Rs 9717 crore a year-on-year. The total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) for the company stands at Rs. 1,98,980 crore, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of 1,11300 crore, AGR liability of Rs 64,620 crore that is due to the government and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs. 23,060 crore.

    However, it improved its average revenue per user (ARPU) to Rs 115 up by 5.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter, due to several tariff interventions to improve ARPU, it said as it reported its Q3 results on Friday.

    The total subscriber base declined to 24.72 crore. However, 4G subscriber base continued to grow with 8 lakh customers added in Q3, 4G base now stands at 11.7 crore. Subscriber churn increased to 3.4 per cent versus 2.9 per cent in the previous quarter. The data usage per 4G subscriber is now at ~14 Gb/month versus 12 Gb/month a year ago.

    Vodafone Idea said that it added ~4000 4G FBB sites in Q3 primarily through the refarming of 2G/3G spectrum to expand their 4G coverage and capacity. Its overall broadband site count stood at 450,330 marginally lower compared to 450,481 in the previous quarter as it continued to shutdown 3G sites in a phased manner. Till date, the company has deployed nearly 67,000 TDD sites in addition to the deployment of ~13,850 massive MIO sites and ~13,150 small cells. Furthermore, the company continues to expand its LTE 900 presence in 12 circles at multiple locations, including through dynamic spectrum refarming, to improve customer experience.

  • Hathway Cable reports gross revenues of Rs 455 cr for Q3 FY22

    Hathway Cable reports gross revenues of Rs 455 cr for Q3 FY22

    Mumbai: Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd posted its third-quarter financial results for FY 2022. The company reported its gross revenue at Rs 455 crore an improvement of three per cent year-on-year.

    The company saw broadband revenue of Rs 154.9 crore and cable TV (CATV) revenue of Rs 300.1 crore. It posted EBITDA of Rs 122.7 crore and EBITDA margin at 27 per cent.

    CATV business

    In the last two years, the company has created an extensive incremental infrastructure for market share gain with focus on Southern and Eastern states. “We have connected over 250 new locations with IP links and added 3,000 KMs of fiber network,” it said in a statement.

    The company has piloted a new generation of HD set-top boxes that allow the casting of OTT apps. Hathway Cable TV customers can now access OTT content without any need to buy an additional box. It also piloted a TV plug using which it can provide reliable last mile cable TV connectivity from a mobile tower network. The company has a presence in more than 109 cities and major towns with 5.5 million STBs deployed and 46,000 kms of the fiber cable network.

    ISP business

    The company saw strong FTTH customers acquisition during Q3 FY 22 with net additions of 24,000 FTTH customers. FTTH consumers now account for up to 65 per cent of overall ISP consumers and 70 per cent of ISP revenue.

    The company has 1.08 million broadband subscribers and sees an average consumption of 223 Gb. It has completed next-generation Docsis upgradation in all cities resulting in 70 per cent decline in Docsis speed complaints and 64 per cent of Docsis consumers have been upgraded to 100 mbps speed plans. The company has 76 per cent redundancy in FTTH PON ports up to the splitter level achieved as of December 2021. It saw an average of a single complaint per year per consumer regarding any FTTH service issue. FTTH capacity has been augmented to accommodate 1.2 lakh consumers.

  • Den Networks posts consolidated revenues of Rs 294 cr in Q3 FY22

    Den Networks posts consolidated revenues of Rs 294 cr in Q3 FY22

    Mumbai: Den Networks has released its financial results for the third quarter of FY 2022. The company reported consolidated revenue of Rs 294 crore and consolidated EBITDA of Rs 50 crore. It reported a profit after tax of Rs 44 crore and cash and cash equivalents stood at Rs 2525 crore.

    The company saw subscription revenues at Rs 177 crore a decline of three per cent quarter-on-quarter and 12 per cent year-on-year. Its income from marketing/placement stood at Rs 86 crore, a decline of 12 per cent QoQ and 19 per cent YoY. Other operating income stood at Rs 12 crore a 52 per cent decline QoQ but a 70 per cent increase YoY. Its activation revenues stood at Rs 20 crore, a five per cent decline QoQ and 30 per cent decline YoY.

    The company’s content costs stood at Rs 149 crore, a seven per cent decline compared to the previous quarter and an eight per cent decline YoY. Personnel costs stood at Rs 20 crore and other operational expenses at Rs 70 crore.

    Den Networks operates a cable TV distribution business spread across 500+ cities/towns in 13 states and a broadband business that is available across 41 cities/towns in India. 

  • Network18’s revenue up by 16.5% YoY at Rs 1657 cr in Q3 FY22

    Network18’s revenue up by 16.5% YoY at Rs 1657 cr in Q3 FY22

    Mumbai: Network18 Media and Investments on Tuesday announced the third-quarter results for FY 2022. The media company reported its highest ever EBITDA at Rs 373 crore with margins of 22.5 per cent. It reported the highest ever quarterly revenue of Rs 1657 crore up by 16.5 per cent year-on-year.

    Network18’s entertainment business margin was at 21.4 per cent and revenue was up by 16 per cent year-on-year. Its TV news business saw a sharp improvement in margin to 27.2 per cent and revenue was up by 13 per cent year-on-year.

    The company’s digital news revenue grew by 41 per cent year-on-year and margins were at 21.2 per cent. Its profit before tax rose by 31 per cent YoY to Rs 337 crore driven by growth in revenue, controlled operational expenditure and lower finance costs.

    “TV industry saw record high advertising volumes in the third quarter driven by strong consumer demand, increased spending by existing brands for a higher share of voice and new advertisers using the medium to widen their reach,” said the company in a statement.

    “domestic subscription revenue for the quarter was flattish YoY while international subscription revenue saw a decline. The implementation timeline of NTO 2.0 regulation was postponed during the quarter by the regulator to 1 April ’22 even as the litigation regarding its validity continued in the Supreme Court of India,” it further added.

    The company’s entertainment business portfolio under Viacom18 is expanding into sports broadcasting by acquiring rights to NBA, footballing events such as FIFA World Cup 2022, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Cinch Premiership, and other sporting events like ATP Masters Tennis, Abu Dhabi T10, World Boxing Championship and Road Safety World Cricket Series.

    Viacom18’s OTT platform Voot reported strong growth in its paid subscriber base during the quarter driven by the new season of Bigg Boss. The show garnered 15 billion+ minutes of watch time (AVOD+SVOD) with a daily TSV of 64 minutes during the quarter.

    The company noted its share of the entertainment network in the non-news genre was 11 per cent with Colors being the second best channel in the pay Hindi GEC genre.

    “We are building a strong and sustainable media franchise which not only delivers quality content to Indian audiences but also value to the shareholders,” said Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai. “Over the last few years, we have taken several significant steps which have helped us achieve the turn around on the profitability front and it is really encouraging to see the business now consistently deliver healthy margins, especially the digital news business which has been growing in a profitable manner. As we have seen over the last several years, content consumption is an integral part of consumers’ lives and there is a willingness to spend more time and money, provided they get access to quality content at an affordable price. Also, consumers are increasingly becoming platform-agnostic, with both TV and Digital growing simultaneously. Our endeavor is to cater to all consumers looking for news and entertainment content in their local languages, movies and leading sports events, on platforms of their choice.”

  • GTPL Hathway reports consolidated revenues of Rs 6130 million for Q3 FY22

    GTPL Hathway reports consolidated revenues of Rs 6130 million for Q3 FY22

    Mumbai: GTPL Hathway has announced the financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended on 31 December 2021, as approved by its board of directors.

    The company’s consolidated Q3 FY22 revenue (incl EPC) stood at Rs 6130 million. Its consolidated 9M FY22 revenue (incl EPC) stood at Rs 18,288 million up by five per cent year-on-year.

    The ISP revenue of the company stood at Rs 1054 million up by 35 per cent year-on-year and 9M FY22 IPS revenue stood at Rs 2978 up by 51 per cent year-on-year. The CATV subscription revenues for the company stood at Rs 2702 million.

    The company’s EBIDTA (incl. EPC) stood at Rs 1473 million and ex-EPC stood at Rs 1472 million. Its profit after tax (PAT) stood at Rs 546 million up by 21 per cent year-on-year.

    The company’s 9M FY22 EBIDTA (incl. EPC) stood at Rs 4301 million up by 3 per cent year-on-year and 9M FY22 EBIDTA (ex-EPC) stood at Rs 4277 million up by six per cent year-on-year. Its 9M FY22 PAT stood at Rs 1454 million up by 11 per cent year-on-year.

    At the end of nine months, the company added 5,30,000 home-pass customers and 1,30,000 net broadband subscribers.

    The company reported 7.5 million paying subscribers at the end of 31 December 2022 out of which 4.40 million were home-pass customers, 7,65,000 were total broadband subscribers out of which 2,90,000 are FTTX subscribers. The company’s broadband average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at Rs 445 at the end of December.

    “The highlight of 9M FY22 performance was CATV business expansion in new states coupled with robust subscriber additions and subscription revenues for broadband business,” said GTPL Hathway managing director Anirudhsingh Jadeja. “On the broadband side, the company is expanding in Gujarat and is penetrating in other states through business partners. GTPL Hathway added 1,30,000 net broadband subscribers in 9M FY22. The company adheres to follow its strategic roadmap by offering a value proposition to its esteemed consumers and constantly enrich their experience.”

  • Dish TV India focused on repayment of debt in Q2 FY22

    Dish TV India focused on repayment of debt in Q2 FY22

    Mumbai: Dish TV India has reported its second quarter results for FY 2022. The company reported consolidated subscription revenues of Rs 6445 million and operating revenues of Rs 7181 million. It reported subscription revenues of Rs 6659 million and operating revenues Rs 7310 million in the previous quarter.

    The company has tapered down its debt to Rs 5566 million while adding more than 0.6 million subscribers at the gross level. At a net level though, it recorded negative additions prioritising repayment of debt over adding fresh subscribers. Dish TV India repaid debt of Rs 697 million during the quarter to arrive at a closing debt of Rs 5566 million.

    “It was business as usual at India’s leading DTH Company despite some chaotic developments on the corporate front towards the end of the quarter,” the company noted. It is referring to its boardroom battle with shareholder Yes Bank on the issue of reconstitution of the board.

    Retention and upgradation focused campaigns continued in line with the objective of increasing the lifetime value of subscribers. Furthermore, to increase stickiness, ‘Watcho’- the in-house OTT app of the company was loaded with freshly curated content. The platform debuted several new web series to further enhance the complimentary bouquet of offerings for Dish TV India subscribers. ‘Watcho’ continued to gain strength as an OTT platform with a strong semi-urban presence in addition to significant tier-1 visibility. The app has recorded total cumulative downloads of 36 million so far.

    “We continue to remain focused in our efforts to drive business performance using tools that enhance the viewing experience of subscribers on both, the traditional as well as the OTT offering,” said Dish TV India group chief executive officer Anil Dua. “We remain sensitive to changing consumer needs and look forward to new launches and a wider audience base.”

    During the quarter, Dish TV announced the launch of its ‘QR Scan Feature.’ The scan to pay feature aims at giving customers a hassle-free single click payment experience when it comes to recharging their Dish TV account or paying utility bills. Dish TV and d2h subscribers will now be able to pay their bills in a few simple steps by scanning the QR code on the company’s websites, www.dishtv.in and www.d2h.com using any UPI app or wallet. UPI is currently the easiest and the most secure way of digital payments owing to its multifactor authentication which requires the users to verify themselves via multiple sources.

    The onset of the festival period towards the end of the second quarter along with some normalization in consumer spending post the second wave of the pandemic encouraged the launch of customised new offerings for existing as well as new subscribers. Dish TV India launched a special ‘Get 1 for 5 Recharge Offer’ as per which a complimentary month of subscription was provided for every five months of recharge. In addition, a ‘Lucky Recharge Offer’ wherein customers could avail up to 100 per cent cashback on recharge of Rs 501 was also launched.

    “Household spending however did not fully recover during the quarter and despite a fairly extensive sports calendar, recharges were not in line with earlier years. Both, streaming platforms as well as Free Dish, continued to give competition to conventional distributors with some of the DTH subscribers at the upper end exploring OTT services while those at the lower end sampling Free Dish services,” said the company.

    Operating revenues for the quarter were Rs 7181 million. EBITDA was Rs 4270 million. EBITDA margin was at 59.4 per cent. Profit before tax for the quarter was Rs 553 million. Net profit for the quarter was Rs 354 million.

    “Consumers typically tend to step up spending during festivals and the festive season traditionally accounts for majority of the annual revenues of the company. Upbeat consumer spending is expected during the festival quarter this year compared to the same quarter last year,” said the company in a statement.

    NTO 2.0

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recently extended the deadline for enforcing the new tariff order (NTO) 2.0 by announcing an execution plan for migrating subscribers to the new regime. Trai directed distribution platforms to ensure that subscribers avail of pay-tv services as per NTO 2.0 norms with effect from 1 April 2022, moving the earlier 1 December 2021 deadline. While distribution platforms like DTH and cable will have to seek subscriber choice till 31 March, broadcasters will have to submit the required information to Trai by 31 December.

    Several broadcasters had earlier challenged the NTO 2.0 in various high courts. However, in an order passed on 30 June, the Bombay high court had upheld the validity of NTO 2.0, except the second proviso to the twin conditions which stated that the a-la-carte rates of each pay channel (MRP) forming part of a bouquet shall in no case exceed three times the average rate of a pay channel of the bouquet of which such pay channel is a part.

    Broadcasters had then approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay high court order. The Supreme Court is yet to announce its decision.

    “We would be watching the developments on the litigation front for now while simultaneously acting towards implementation of the order,” said Dish TV India chairman and managing director Jawahar Goel.

  • Vodafone Idea records revenue growth of 2.8 per cent QoQ in Q2 FY2022

    Vodafone Idea records revenue growth of 2.8 per cent QoQ in Q2 FY2022

    Mumbai: Vodafone Idea recorded revenue growth of 2.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) in Q2 FY2022. The telecom company reported revenues of Rs 94.1 billion for the quarter.

    EBIDTA for the quarter improved to Rs 38.6 billion up by 4.6 per cent QoQ. EBITDA margins improved to 41.1 per cent over 40.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Capex spends for the quarter was Rs 13 billion.

    Vodafone Idea’s subscriber base stands at 253 million, a decline of 2.4 million YoY. The company saw a healthy addition of 3.3 million subscribers to its 4G base which stands at 116.2 million. The company reported improved subscriber churn at 2.9 per cent vs 3.5 per cent last year for the corresponding quarter.

    The company reported improved ARPUs of Rs 109 up by 5.3 per cent QoQ. “This quarter we had taken certain pricing initiatives to improve ARPU, in line with our stated strategy. We increased the entry level prepaid pricing plan from Rs. 49 to Rs. 79, in a phased manner, as well as increased the tariffs in some postpaid plans,” said the statement.

    The company’s total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) stands at Rs. 1947.8 billion, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs. 1086.1 billion, AGR liability of Rs. 634.0 billion that is due to the government and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs. 227.7 billion.

    “We welcome the Government’s landmark reform package which addresses several industry concerns and provides immediate relief to the financial stress in the sector,” said Vodafone Idea chief executive officer Ravinder Takkar. “During the last quarter, we witnessed a recovery in our operating momentum as the economy has started to gradually open up aided by the ongoing rapid vaccination drive. We continue to focus on executing our strategy to improve our competitive position and win in the marketplace.”

  • Zeel Q2 FY22: New content launches bolsters ad revenue growth

    Zeel Q2 FY22: New content launches bolsters ad revenue growth

    Mumbai: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) announced its financial results for the second quarter FY 2022 ended on 30 September. The company reported 14.9 per cent revenue growth year-on-year (YoY) and 20.1 per cent domestic advertising revenue growth YoY.

    The company’s total revenues stood at Rs 1305 million which was up 17 per cent sequentially. Its EBIDTA was Rs 4121 million and its EBIDTA margins at 20.8 per cent. The company’s advertising revenues stood at Rs 10,893 million and subscription revenues at Rs 7,885 million. Domestic ad revenue grew on a quarter-on-quarter basis by 18.9 per cent. Subscription revenues were down marginally by 1.5 per cent YoY. The company indicated that delay in NTO 2.0 implementation continues to impact pricing. The new timeline for NTO 2.0 rollout was extended till 1 April 2022.

    The broadcaster saw its total TV viewership decrease slightly but grew its network viewership share by 70 bps on account of new show launches across all markets. It released 13 new shows and movies during the quarter. Zee TV, Zee Marathi, and Zee Tamil’s performance was soft during the quarter. The Bengali, Kannada, and Telugu channels posted a strong performance. Genre-wise news and movies led to lower contribution in overall viewership.

    The company reported 93.2 million global monthly active users (MAUs) for its streaming platform ZEE5. Zeel’s film production arm Zee Studios has a strong slate of movies ready for H2 FY22 across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Punjabi languages being planned for release.

    In an investor call, Zeel managing director and chief executive officer Punit Goenka shared an update on the merger between Zeel and Sony Pictures Networks India. He said, “After receiving in-principle approval from the board, the due diligence process has commenced and is in steady progress. We are confident that this process will be completed within the stipulated timelines or even before that. Post which we will move on to the next steps as mandated by the law.”