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Tag: Network18

  • Network18 hires Mukul Gupta & Tauquir Zaidi, strengthens ETV’s revenue team

    MUMBAI: Network18, one of India’s most diversified media conglomerates has been strengthening and re-organizing its revenue function to create a robust team with deserving talent base. Recently the company announced elevation of key sales personnel. Moving in the same direction, the Network has now announced the appointment of Mukul Gupta & Tauquir Zaidi as National Sales Heads for ETV News HSM (Hindi Speaking Markets) channels and ETV News Language channels, respectively.

    Commenting on these appointments, Joy Chakraborthy, President – Revenue, TV18 & CEO Forbes India said, ‘We are very happy that Tauquir and Mukul have joined our ETV News Network, I welcome them. They bring vast and varied experience of media sales, which will strengthen an already good team.’

    Prior to joining Network18, Mukul was Head Sales – Special Initiatives at Zee News’s regional bouquet of channels. Before that he was head of corporate sales with ETV News. He has considerable experience of work with other brands such as MAA TV, Sahara Samay, Dainik Bhaskar, Rajasthan Patrika, Hindustan Times to name a few.

    Tauquir was the National Sales Head with Prasar Bharati – Doordarshan channels, Region Head with Times Now, NDTV Media and has spent more than six yrs in STAR India.

    Both Mukul and Tauquir will be reporting to Sudip Roy, EVP and National Revenue Head, ETV News Network, Network18, who in turn reports to Joy.

  • Network18 announces key elevations, re-organises revenue function

    MUMBAI: Network18, one of India’s most diversified media conglomerates has been strengthening its revenue team ever since Joy Chakraborthy took over as President- Revenue for TV18 and CEO-Forbes India, a year ago. Moving ahead in this direction, it has recently re-organized the leadership roles within the function by announcing key elevations.

    Commenting on these elevations, Joy Chakraborthy said, “In the past one year, we were able to utilize and leverage strengths of our network, leadership and people with a cohesive sales structure. For the new fiscal year, we are geared up to look at newer opportunities and face different challenges. Keeping in line with our strategy to move ahead, we feel it is imperative to re-jig leadership roles to make the most of individual forte, team and network strengths in extracting our best from market situations and opportunities.”

    Mukund Setlur takes on the role of National Sales Head for News18 India, IBN Lokmat and CNBC Bajar, utilizing his vast knowledge and experience of selling the 13 ETV News Channels nationally as well as from his successful stint at leadership position with the erstwhile IBN7 (now News18 India).

    Sudip Roy will be in charge of ETV News Channels’ sales as National Sales Head bringing in his experience to extend ETV news network’s business onto the next level. Amit Tripathi who currently leads the sales team for Government businesses of TV18 channels as well as that for the Hindi speaking markets for ETV News channels, will now also manage government businesses of language channels under the ETV News Network.

    Sonia Kapoor, in addition to being National Sales Head for her present Focus portfolio comprising CNBC- TV18, CNN News18, Moneycontrol, Forbes India and Firstpost, will also head Focus nationally for CNBC Awaaz, CNBC Bajar, News18 India and IBN Lokmat.

  • Network18’s Vinit Jain calls it a day

    MUMBAI: After a stint of more than three years, Network18 media and investment group head commercial Vinit Jain has resigned from the company.

    A source close to the development informed www.indiantelevision.com that Jain has already served his notice period and last day at work.

    Jain joined Network18 in August 2013 as the group head – commercial where he was responsible for strategic financial planning, budgeting and management reporting, business and transaction restructuring and integration and new set-ups and business support.

    Prior to this, he worked as the chief financial officer at Indiacast Media and Distribution, a joint venture with Viacom 18 and  TV18 broadcast for more than two years.

    Jain also worked with Zee Learn as the chief financial officer for six months. Earlier, for more than 12 years, he worked as the director fo ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd.

    Also Read

    Network18 appoints Sachin Tagra as vice president – Capital18

    YourStory’s Ashish Rana joins IdeateLabs as business head

    CNN-News18’s editorial and programming refresh

  • Network18 FY17 consolidated revenue up by 5% from last year

    MUMBAI: Network18’s Q4 results showed a five per cent YoY growth (driven largely by its TV operations) over last year, posting consolidated revenue of Rs 3,471 crore in FY17 (including proportionate share of JVs) . Segment profits were significantly impacted by pullback in advertising spends in the latter half, operating losses of the new initiatives in regional and digital broadcasting, and losses in digital commerce businesses. 

    Financials for the quarter

    The consolidated revenue (including proportionate share of JVs considered for segment reports) for the quarter ended 31 March, 2017, stood at Rs. 898.4 crore versus Rs. 898.8 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The FY17 consolidated revenue stood at Rs. 3471.1 crore, up five per cent from Rs. 3321 crore last year.

    Segment loss before interest and tax on a consolidated basis, including the performance of joint ventures for the quarter ended 31 March, 2017, stood at Rs 65.5 crore versus segment profit of  Rs. 65.3 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.  Excluding the impact of new initiatives and one-time expenses, the segment profit for the quarter is Rs 5 crore.

    The consolidated revenue as per Ind AS (accounting the JVs under equity method) for the quarter ended 31 March, 2017, stood at Rs. 387.7 crore as compared to Rs. 473.2 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The FY17 consolidated Ind-AS revenue stood at Rs. 1491.0 crore, down two per cent from Rs. 1527.3 crore last year.

    Operating loss on a consolidated basis under Ind AS for the quarter ended 31st March, 2017 stood at Rs. 20.7 crore versus segment profit Rs. 82.7 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. Excluding the impact of new initiatives and one-time expenses, the operating profit for the quarter is Rs. 55.2 crores.

    Highlights 

    One of the highlights of quarters were the tepid ad-industry environment dragged revenues, especially in regional markets. The media industry is still facing impact of deferment of advertising spends that kicked-in from November-December 2016 on likely slow-down in consumer spending. 

    Further, the revival of advertising  spends  has  been  witnessed  at a much faster clip for national  channels,  while regional markets are still recovering with a lag. This has been exacerbated by our launches of regional news and entertainment channels over the last 18 months, including four in early-FY17.

    Despite headwinds, Network18’ s consolidated topline (including JVs) was flat YoY. Listed subsidiary TV18 posted 7 per cent YoY topline growth and its operating profits excluding impact of new initiatives was Rs. 92.6 crores (vs. Rs. 96.7 crores in Q4 FY17).

    The viewership  around  key  events  demonstrated  the network’s’ news  franchise  leadership  and excellence of coverage. CNBC TV18, during the live coverage and analysis of the Union Budget on 1 Feb 2017, garnered 86 per cent market share. On Counting Day of the Assembly Elections of five states, CNN News18 was the number one english news channel.

    Another highlight for the network was the Viacom18, which continues to showcase its strength in Hindi general entertainment, regional entertainment and Kids genres. Colors is now a number two channel, while Nick and Sonic together place us as the top Kids content provider  with a 29 per cent market-share.

    OTT entertainment app VOOT continues to gain traction, and are witnessing  more  sticky  usage  patterns  than  competition.  Opinions  website  “Firstpost”  and flagship finance portal “MoneyControl” were standout performers, and have posted impressive growth in traffic.

    HomeShop18 has contributed substantially to the weakness in Network18 profitability.
    The TV home-shopping business continues to face challenges due to a hit to cash-on-delivery payments and a poor spending appetite since November, competition from e-commerce and regulatory issues including imposition of entry tax by several states. The management is taking steps to cut costs and accelerate operating break-even.

    Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai said,  “The digital space in India continues to become more and more vibrant, as bottlenecks around connectivity and cost reduce substantially. We see the emergence of new formats and services, and rapidly-evolving business models; and aim to be at the forefront of this change. Our strength in linear media provides us the edge, helping us leapfrog in our aspiration to be a channel-agnostic provider of top-drawer content”.

    New initiatives & one-time charges

    The new initiatives of Viacom18 (2nd  Kannada GEC Colors Super, OTT video destination VOOT and movie channel Rishtey Cineplex) continued to perform well on all operational metrics. The aggregate operating loss of the new initiatives considered in the consolidated segment results for the quarter is Rs. 36.1 crores.

    Three  regional  news  channels  —  News18  Kerala,  News18  Tamil  Nadu  and  News18 Assam/N.E — that were launched during the first quarter of the current year incurred an operating loss of Rs. 26.9 crores during the quarter.

    “fyi TV18”, a lifestyle programming channel from the AETN18 stable (a JV between TV18 and A&E Network), commercially launched in July 2016, gained a market share of 21% in the quarter. The channel incurred an operating loss of Rs. 7.6 crore during the quarter.

  • Network18 appoints Sachin Tagra as vice president – Capital18

    MUMBAI: In a move to strengthen Capital18, the media investment arm of Network18, the Group has been on an aggressive hiring spree.

    The company today announced the appointment of Sachin Tagra as Vice President– Capital18. Sachin will oversee media for equity investments and initiatives across all platforms within the Group and will report to Puneet Singhvi, Head – Corporate Development.

    Capital18 is the Venture Capital and Media Investments division of Network18 Group focused on making investments in media, entertainment and technology ventures.

    Commenting on his appointment, Tagra says, “I am excited to join Network18 Group and build the platform to invest its media assets into fast growing companies. We will focus on businesses that need long term investments to build their brands. We will work closely with entrepreneurs to drive a high RoI on their media spends and contribute in scaling up their businesses.”

    Prior to joining Network18, Sachin was Associate Vice President in Brand Capital, strategic investment arm of Times Group where he focused on driving investments in early stage businesses and had set up the Incubator Capital investment model. He was also responsible for BC GSV labs business, a JV of BCCL with Global Silicon Valley, US.

    Tagra is a management graduate with 18 years of prolific business experiences and deep understanding of consumer, retail and media businesses. He has driven P&Ls of large businesses and made significant contributions in various organizations from the start-up phase of the business to profitable scaling up.

  • Aquaguard & Network18 to honour ‘Water Heroes’ at ‘Jal Daan’ grand finale

    MUMBAI: The first season of the ‘Jal Daan movement’, Network18 & Aquaguard’s social campaign around creating awareness and generating solutions to the drinking water crises in India is reaching its culmination with a gala ceremony on 24th March 2017 at Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai. The event will celebrate and salute the endeavors of ‘Water Heroes’ – individuals & organizations who have been working relentlessly around the issue of safe drinking water.

    The Grand finale will also serve as a platform for stakeholders to come together and discuss, deliberate and exchange ideas to build a sustainable potable water ecosystem in India. The evening will be graced by the presence of Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra as the Chief Guest of the event who will felicitate the ‘Jal Daan Water Heroes’. Noted actor & Unicef Goodwill Ambassador Madhuri Dixit, acclaimed lyricist, Prasoon Joshi, and social reformer Bindeshwar Pathak, would be the Guest of Honor.

    To discuss India’s drinking water problems and accessibility for all, a special panel discussion will take place with eminent personalities including Priya Naik, Founder & CEO, Samhita, Anuj Sharma, CEO, Piramal Sarajal, Dr. Shriram Nene (Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeon), Bishwadeep Ghosh, Director, Arghyam, Dr. Thuppil Venkatesh (Professor Emeritus, St. John’s Medical College) and A.V Suresh, Eureka Forbes, President- International Operations & CEO Forbes Professional at Eureka Forbes.

    With amplification across the Network 18 bouquet of channels and digital assets, the ‘Jal Daan’ campaign has gathered great momentum and successfully mobilized people to take note of India’s drinking water woes, encouraged them to do their bit by taking a pledge to donate 5 litres of healthy & safe drinking water every day to those who don’t have access to it. Over the last six months, the campaign has garnered more than 3 million pledges from citizens from all walks of life – a testimony to its efficacy.

    The initiative has emerged as a significant crusade in galvanizing popular sentiment towards an extremely important cause and creating a better future for our generations to come.

  • Sports Flashes ropes in Saregama’s / Network18’s Sinha as CTO

    MUMBAI: Keshaw Sinha has become the chief technology officer (CTO) of Sports Flashes, one of the top sports apps of the country. He was the chief technology officer of the music label Saregama in his last assignment and has earlier been the Head of Technology at Network 18 and Zapak. He is also the Co-founder of the app along with Raman Raheja who is the Chief Executive Officer of the firm as well.

    An IITian Mumbai Alumni, Sinha leverages over 20 years of experience in product and technology in various sections like Media & Entertainment, VAS, Online Gaming, Product Development, Financial Market & Analysis, Retail, Telecommunication, Pre-Press etc. His previous work stint included brands like pH Solutions (Mumbai-based product and service firm), Network18 where he launched and improvised on FirstPost.com & moneycontrol.com, Zapak (gaming portal of the Reliance ADAG), Patni Computers and Qwest Corporation.

    Sinha will be responsible for building and developing the product further for better user experience. “Keshaw has been a master of creating & mentoring landmark products in the digital space and it’s a pleasure to have him on board as the CTO. His skills would help us grow further by leaps and bounds,” said Raheja.

    Sinha’s future plans also include launching Sports Flashes in various global markets. “Sports is seeing a revolution of sorts in India and I would like to see Sports Flashes lead the Digital Revolution in the Sports Industry,” added Sinha.

    Available in five languages, Sports Flashes was launched in August 2016. It has already reached a mark of 200,000 users and 4.5 million screen views in just 150 days. Pegged as a One stop Sports App for ‘Everything about Sports’, it had started with 70-words trending stories and now carries the Sports Flashes TV that shows many domestic & International sports events live besides live match scores, ball by ball commentary, tips by champions like Sushil Kumar, gossips from the sports world and astro predictions.

  • Network18 strengthens digital arm with pros from Jabong, Flipkart & India TV

    MUMBAI: Network18, one of India’s most diversified media conglomerates is re-imagining and thereby bolstering its Digital proposition. In this direction, the Group announced the rebranding of Web18 as Network18 Digital last year. Network18 Digital boasts of highly successful and pioneering digital properties like Moneycontrol, Firstpost, News18 and Pradesh18. In order to grow these platforms and seed new ideas within the network so as to claim a leadership position in digital space, Network18 has been taking proactive initiatives. It appointed Manish Maheshwari as CEO of Network18 Digital.

    Network18 Digital is among the largest multi-platform destinations for objective breaking news, opinions, financial data and infotainment for the evolved digital news consumer. It caters to all sections of society, especially to the millennials and Generation Z users who access and consume content on the go. In an effort to offer the best in digital space, the company has been continuously hiring unmatched talent from the market. Lakshmi Potluri, former co-founder of Jabong.com and recent hires include Rajiv Singh from Flipkart and Anushrav Gulati from India TV Digital.

    Speaking about the appointments, Maheshwari, says, “We are in an exciting phase of time when changes in content consumption are happening at an accelerating rate and it is indispensable to stay relevant to the new consumers that are getting hooked onto digital platforms each day. With web becoming a passé and action moving to Mobile and further to Wearables, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), it was necessary to reinvent ourselves and be future-ready. And that explains the power of Network18 Digital or its numeronym N18D. We have brought the finest team together to bring the most innovative offerings for consumers and the recent appointments will bolster our efforts towards the same.”

    Rajiv Singh has joined N18D as the Business Head for News18. Rajiv is an Alumnus of IIM- Kozhikode with significant experience in media, both traditional and Digital. Prior to N18D, he was with Flipkart where he was responsible for Digital Ad sales for third party clients. In past he has worked with companies like Star TV – TV Ad sales & Online Ads Sales for Hotstar & Starsports.com. He was responsible for setting up and mentoring the Ads business for Amagi media and prior to that was part of Radio Mirchi in various capacities across India.

    Anushrav Gulati has joined Network18 Digital as Business Head for the Languages portfolio. Anushrav comes with experience across e-commerce, search and publishing domains. In his last assignment Anushrav was responsible for setting up the Digital team, processes and business initiatives for India TV Digital.

    Both Rajiv and Anushrav will be reporting to Maheshwari.

    N18D is an integral part of the Network18 family that is home to some of India’s most prominent TV stations in both news and entertainment genres straddling multiple languages. Some of these include CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNN-News18, ETV Network and Colors. The network is partner to some of the most respected international brands, notably CNN, CNBC, Viacom and Forbes. N18D’s family legacy and its international partnerships gives it access to the most exhaustive and trusted content from across India and around the world in multiple flavors, languages and subject genres.

  • Network18 appoints News X’s Karishma Dhawan

    Network18 appoints News X’s Karishma Dhawan

    MUMBAI: The factual entertainment genre in India is witnessing several changes — revamps, channel launches and senior level movements. After hiring former Discovery Networks programming head Arun Thapar as its EVP and head of content, Network18 has appointed Karishma Dhawan as the cluster head of History TV18, FYI TV18 and international business.

    In her second stint with the network, she will handle ad-sales, client servicing and sales management of the entire network.

    Dhawan will report to the group’s recently appointed executive vice president of English news cluster and network sales head for north and south Priyanka Datta as well as VP of head sales for Forbes India and international business for English news channels of the network, Preeti Sahni. The two executives report to TV18 president for revenue and Forbes CEO Joy Chakraborthy.

    With more than 13 years of experience of generating revenue beyond the regular vanilla advertising, she has handled brands such as HT City, Indian Express, Radio City, Trav Talk and CNN IBN, etc. She has also handled concept sales on profit and generated revenue through organising events, media partnerships and AFPs, and integrations.

    Prior to taking this role, she was with NewsX as the sales head since March 2016. She handled the national responsibility for all the regional sales team (revenue, sales grooming, hiring etc.)

    She was hired as the assistant VP and regional head of HistoryTV18 in April 2013. In her tenure of around three years with the group, Dhawan was responsible for revenue generation as well as grooming and creating next level managers.

  • Network18 appoints News X’s Karishma Dhawan

    Network18 appoints News X’s Karishma Dhawan

    MUMBAI: The factual entertainment genre in India is witnessing several changes — revamps, channel launches and senior level movements. After hiring former Discovery Networks programming head Arun Thapar as its EVP and head of content, Network18 has appointed Karishma Dhawan as the cluster head of History TV18, FYI TV18 and international business.

    In her second stint with the network, she will handle ad-sales, client servicing and sales management of the entire network.

    Dhawan will report to the group’s recently appointed executive vice president of English news cluster and network sales head for north and south Priyanka Datta as well as VP of head sales for Forbes India and international business for English news channels of the network, Preeti Sahni. The two executives report to TV18 president for revenue and Forbes CEO Joy Chakraborthy.

    With more than 13 years of experience of generating revenue beyond the regular vanilla advertising, she has handled brands such as HT City, Indian Express, Radio City, Trav Talk and CNN IBN, etc. She has also handled concept sales on profit and generated revenue through organising events, media partnerships and AFPs, and integrations.

    Prior to taking this role, she was with NewsX as the sales head since March 2016. She handled the national responsibility for all the regional sales team (revenue, sales grooming, hiring etc.)

    She was hired as the assistant VP and regional head of HistoryTV18 in April 2013. In her tenure of around three years with the group, Dhawan was responsible for revenue generation as well as grooming and creating next level managers.