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Tag: Indiacast Media Distribution

  • Network18’s financial performance reflects mixed trends amidst restructuring

    Network18’s financial performance reflects mixed trends amidst restructuring

    MUMBAI: Network18’s financial results for the year ended 31 March 2025 present a complex picture, marked by operational challenges and the impact of strategic restructuring activities. The company has reported a net loss, but this is juxtaposed with substantial gains from exceptional items.

    Revenue from operations shows a slight decrease, indicating some pressure on the company’s core business activities.
    * Revenue from operations increased  to Rs 1,896.21 crore from Rs 1,817.73 crore in the previous year. 
    * The primary component, value of sales and services, was Rs 2,206.87 crore, compared to Rs  2,114.86 crore in the previous year.
    * Other income contributed a smaller amount, Rs 16.75 crore, down from Rs 18.70 crore. 

    Expenses increased, impacting profitability.
    * Total expenses rose to Rs   2,197.81 crore from Rs 2,086.95 crore. 
    * Key expense categories include: 
    o Operational costs: Rs 402.66 crore (previous year: Rs 381.35 crore) 
    o Marketing, distribution, and promotional expense: 478.24 crore (previous year: Rs 428.12 crore) 
    o Employee Benefits Expense: Rs 729.99 crore (previous year: Rs 702.68 crore) 
    o Finance costs:  Rs 213.42 crore (previous year: Rs 186.20 crore) 
    o Depreciation and amortisation expense: Rs 121.66 crore (previous year: Rs 101.02 crore) 
    o Other expenses: Rs  251.84 crore  (previous year: Rs  287.58 crore) 

    The company’s profitability was affected, but exceptional items provided a substantial offset.
    * Profit/ (Loss) before exceptional items and tax was a loss of Rs (284.85) crore, compared to a loss of Rs (250.52) crore in the previous year. 
    * However, the company recorded exceptional items of Rs 3,498.21 crore. 
    * This resulted in a profit/ (loss) before tax of Rs 3,213.36 crore, compared to Rs (250.52) crore in the previous year. 
    * After accounting for tax, the profit/ (loss) for the Period/Year was Rs 3,213.36 crore, compared to a loss of Rs 185.41 crore in the previous year. 

    The composite scheme of arrangement involving Viacom18, Digital18, and Star India has significantly reshaped the company’s structure.  The sale of shares in Indiacast Media Distribution Private Limited and changes in the shareholding of Viacom18 contributed to the exceptional items. 

    Network18’s financial performance reflects a period of transition.

    (updated 19 April at 11:40 am) 

    The company issued a press release on 19 April which reads as follows: 

    MUMBAI: Network18 Media & Investments Ltd’s standalone operating revenue for the news business rose 4.3 percent to Rs 1,896 crore in the year ended March 31, while operating EBITDA nearly doubled to Rs 33 crore, led by tight cost control, stronger ad pricing and viewership gains.

    Growth in operating EBITDA was aided by its expanding viewership and gains in advertising pricing. The network continued to lead in Hindi, English, and Business News segments, while also rising to leadership in Marathi and Bengali markets.

    In the fiscal fourth quarter, the company reported an operating EBITDA of Rs 13 crore for its standalone news business, showing resilience amid a subdued advertising environment and a high base from election-driven revenues a year ago. EBITDA margin widened to 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter from 2.2 percent in the preceding three months. Standalone operating revenue rose 9.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 522 crore. Operating expenses rose 3 percent to Rs 508 crore from a year earlier.

    Q4 Standalone loss narrows

    The company posted a standalone loss of Rs 69 crore for Q4 FY25. That compares with the Rs 31 crore loss in the year-ago period. Total standalone income stood at Rs 524 crore, up from Rs 484 crore in Q3 but lower than Rs 537 crore in Q4 FY24. The quarter saw muted advertising spends across the TV news industry, with inventory consumption falling 15 percent YoY, although the company maintained traction in digital ad revenues.

    Network18 ended the year as India’s top TV news network with a 14.1 percent all-India market share and a weekly reach of over 180 million viewers. Viewership share rose 330 basis points year-on-year, driven by strong gains in regional markets. News18 Lokmat and News18 Bangla climbed to the number 1 position in their respective states, while News18 Kannada emerged as a strong number 2, more than doubling its market share. Moneycontrol, continued to strengthen its position. Moneycontrol Pro remained India’s largest subscription-based financial platform, crossing over 1 million paid subscribers and ranking among the top 15 globally.

    The company also retained leadership in key national genres with News18 India as the top Hindi news channel, CNBC-TV18 leading the business news space, and CNN-News18 topping English news.

    The company’s consolidated financials reflected the impact of its restructuring deal involving Viacom18, Digital18, and Star India. Network18 recorded an exceptional loss of Rs 1,436 crore on the consolidated books due to the derecognition of Viacom18 as a subsidiary and sale of Indiacast. This led to a consolidated net loss of Rs 1,777 crore for FY25 despite strong operating performance in the core news segment.

    Chairman Adil Zainulbhai said: “We are really happy to end the fiscal on a strong note as the largest news network in the country on all fronts—viewership share, audience reach and language footprint. Despite short-term macro headwinds, we are confident in the company’s long-term growth trajectory.”

  • Indiacast partners with ABS Broadcast to launch Viacom18 channels on Sky Glass

    Indiacast partners with ABS Broadcast to launch Viacom18 channels on Sky Glass

    Mumbai: IndiaCast Media Distribution has partnered with ABS Broadcast to launch Viacom18’s marquee channels – Colors and Colors Rishtey on the streaming TV platform Sky Glass. Launched in October last year, the custom-designed 4K TV doesn’t require a satellite dish or box for it to work.

    Viewers in the UK can now watch shows such as “Bigg Boss,” “The Big Picture,” “Dance Deewane” and others on the Sky Glass platform with more content added every day.

    “We wanted to expand onto Sky Glass, and choosing ABS Broadcast to deliver proved to be a decision which has more than paid off,” said IndiaCast Media Distribution executive vice president and head international business Govind Shahi. Indiacast is a multi-platform content asset monetisation entity jointly owned by TV18 and Viacom18. “It’s important that our channels are accessible across as many platforms as possible, and I am pleased to say that Colors and Colors Rishtey are now available on Sky Glass for our UK audiences.”

    ABS Broadcast managing director Sass Jahani said, “I am very proud of the teams at ABS, Viacom18 and IndiaCast for getting this service launched with such a fast turnaround, whilst also dealing with the many hurdles along the way.”

    The addition of Viacom18 channels has set ABS Broadcast as the provider with most launches on Sky Glass.

  • AIDCF asks b’casters to create level playing field for OTT & cable TV

    AIDCF asks b’casters to create level playing field for OTT & cable TV

    MUMBAI: The All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) is on a roll. The multi system operator (MSO) association, which first submitted its recommendations to the Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry and then to the GST Committee, has now written to broadcasters with Over the Top (OTT) platforms.

     

    The Association has written a letter to Star India, Multi Screen Media and IndiaCast Media Distribution. In the letter, AIDCF has stressed on how the broadcaster is giving content free of cost to its OTT platforms, while charging MSOs for the same content.

     

    Giving an example of Star India’s OTT platform hotstar, a source close to the development tells Indiantelevision.com, “Star India, on one hand offers simulcast or immediate transmission of fresh popular content completely free of cost to its OTT subscribers on hotstar and on the flip-side, it charges the MSOs huge sum for the same set of content.”

     

    AIDCF’s letter to broadcasters, a copy of which is with this website, reads:

     

    1) The cable industry is contributing huge subscription revenue to 

    broadcasters for the same set of content and programme.

     

    2) It contributes to a large viewership for the channels the network has.

     

    3) Also helps the broadcaster in gaining higher TRPs, which in turn leads to a better ad rate for the portfolio of channels thus increasing the advertisement revenue.

     

    The letter points out that this scenario of offering simulcast/immediate transmission of fresh content completely free of cost to OTT subscribers is not favourable for the Cable TV industry and its relationship with broadcasters, considering the growth in the subscriber base for the broadcasters’ OTT application.

     

    According to AIDCF, this is a threat to the pay TV cable business model, which defeats the purpose of paying huge license fees to broadcasters. “Some of our subscribers have started complaining saying, ‘Why should we pay you for the content, which is available free of cost via say hotstar or Sony Liv,’” informs the source.

     

    Giving free of cost content to OTT platforms is affecting the average revenue per user (ARPU) of the cable TV industry, subsequently hampering the growth of business at large.

     

    AIDCF in its letter has asked broadcasters to create a level playing field amongst respective distribution platforms. “We have requested the broadcaster to make content available on their OTT platform a paid service with a subscription fees. Alternatively, the same content should also be made available free of cost to other distribution platform,” the source reaffirms.