MUMBAI: Network18 Media & Investment’s shareholders have approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore.
In its annual general meeting held on 28 September, the company has put forth special resolution for the same.
The shareholders have now approved the proposal to raise funds via issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs), foreign currency convertible bonds and/or bond with share warrants in one or more tranches.
MUMBAI: Network18 Group CEO AP Parigi will be stepping down from his post and move into an advisory role in the group with effect from 1 October, 2015.
In his new role, he will be adviser to Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai.
It may be recalled that Parigi was appointed as group CEO of the company only in January this year. Parigi was brought on board Network18 after B Sai Kumar quit as the company’s group CEO in May last year. Post that, the company witnessed a major manpower drain when Mukesh Ambani helmed Reliance Industries picked up a majority stake in it.
While the company did not cite any reason for moving Parigi from his current role after a stint of less than eight months, the development does comes in the wake of Network18 appointing former Economic Times editorial director Rahul Joshi as CEO of news and group editor-in-chief. Incidentally, Joshi is slated to take over his new position in just a few days on 28 September, 2015.
Thanking Parigi for his contribution, Zainulbhai said, “Parigi has strengthened the management team and helped stabilise the operations of the company. This has put Network18 on a sound footing for future growth. I look forward to his continued support in the new role.”
Parigi added, “I wish to thank Adil and the Board of Directors of Network18 for the opportunity to be a part of the transition team at Network18.”
In his professional stint spanning almost four decades, Parigi was ENIL (Radio Mirchi) managing director and CEO. He also had a brief stint with Eros International Media as MD and CEO.
MUMBAI: Indian entrepreneur Raghav Bahl is invested $3.25 million in the California based data-driven publishing company Quintype.
The company will use the capital raised to enhance product and business development. Specifically, the funding will be used to grow the product engineering, and sales teams, across locations in the US Bay Area, as well as in Bangalore, India.
Bahl’s Quintillion Media runs a news site in India called The Quint, which was launched earlier this year on the Quintype platform.
Quintype founder Amit Rathore said, “We are excited to have Mr. Bahl support our company as he has, and are looking forward to using the funds to grow the company even more, particularly from a business standpoint. At Quintype, our goal is to make it just as easy to start a non-trivial media operation, as it is to start a blog. So, if you want to start a new online magazine, or a news site or app, or any other high-velocity content property, you’ll be able to do it in minutes.”
The Quintype platform is a seamless, end-to-end SaaS service that brings together all the functionality you need to run a modern media business, including everything needed to create and distribute content, understand and grow your audience, and also monetise that content. Because they’re all seamlessly integrated, these various functions work together extremely well, letting publishers focus on their content business, while the Quintype platform manages all the technology heavy lifting. It includes functionality like cardification, collaboration and team workflow tools, advanced semantic analytics, personalisation and recommendation systems, an advanced monetisation engine, and several other modules.
This SaaS offering lets media organisations reduce technology costs, while at the same time, leveraging big data and predictive analytics to increase revenue and profits. In fact, Quintype’s business model is unique. The entire state-of-the-art platform is available to anyone, free of cost. Quintype partners with publishers by making money through a revenue-share model, effectively aligning their interests with that of the publisher. Quintype only makes money when the publisher does.
Quintype also allows publishers to define more-nuanced audience segments, an attractive proposition for advertisers as well. Quintype takes this first-party data to the next level.
Bahl, who launched his company Quintillion Media, after selling Network18 to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, has been investing in multiple ventures. Most recently he invested Rs 4 crore in the media platform Youth Ki Awaaz as well as in the women-oriented job portal Sheroes.
MUMBAI: The flow of top level talent from Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) continues into the Reliance Industries’ controlled Network 18.
After appointing Radio Mirchi CEO and managing director AP Parigi as Network18 group CEO in January this year, the company has now roped in Economic Times’ editorial director Rahul Joshi as the CEO of news and group editor-in-chief.
A top level executive from Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd confirmed to Indiantelevison.com that Joshi had indeed put in his papers at the company.
A source close to the development added, “Through a mail to all the employees of Network18, it was announced that Rahul Joshi will take the position of CEO news and group editor-in-chief. Since there was no one in this position earlier, there is no question of him replacing anyone. The team here is looking forward to working under his guidance.”
Joshi had been serving as editorial director at Economic Times along with Rajrishi Singhal since 2004. However, after Singhal moved to the role of consulting editor in 2006, Joshi was handling the role of editorial director single handedly.
At the age of 19 he became the editor-in-chief of a regional daily and today has journalism experience of more than 35 years. Besides being on top of each and every beat, he was keenly focused on investigative journalism.
In August 2004, he became a victim of aggressive Shiv Sena supporters who were irked by his belligerence and brave journalism. He is the inspiration for many igniting minds who are keen to peruse a career in journalism; he is none other than veteran Marathi pressman Nikhil Wagle.
Speaking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com’s Sagar Shere, Wagle shares his vision on the Marathi news space, where he feels there is huge room for creative experimentation.
Excerpts:
How has your stint with Mi Marathi been so far? What was the reason behind choosing the channel when you switched from IBN Lokmat?
It’s just been nine months since I joined Mi Marathi and I am not working full time here. I only do one show for them which is Point Blank. The reason behind switching from IBN Lokmat was that the entire IBN network was taken over by Mukesh Ambani. We had conflicts on policies and ideology with them. We worked under Rajdeep Sardesai as a team and resigned because we thought Ambani will not give us the freedom to work as a journalist.
I liked the policies of Mi Marathi and their ideation behind news so I thought of coming to Mi Marathi.
There has been a drastic growth in the Marathi news channel space. What do you think is the pulling point for audiences and what does the Marathi news channel genre needs to work on to get in more viewers?
Marathi news channel is growing and it was always better than Hindi news channel on the basis of content. When IBN Lokmat and ABP Mazha were newly born, they infused young blood and were ready to experiment. However now they seem to have faced a setback. These days Marathi news channels have started following a set pattern for everything, be it for news gathering, news visualizing, programming or debate. There is no innovation in Marathi news space.
From your perspective, what are the changes that you have seen over the years in the genre? In terms of approach for news, do you think there is a different strategy that Marathi channels are adopting now?
We need more creativity, more ideas and more experimentation in Marathi news channels. We should infuse young blood so that we can experiment and create good content. We need to concentrate on investigative journalism. These days all news channels thrive on byte journalism and feature programmes. However the need of the hour is investigative journalism. Over the past seven years, news channels have turned stale. We need fresh outlook. Moreover, new perceptions and innovation is always accepted by the audience.
Do you think there is scope for more news channels in the Marathi space?
There is ample scope for Marathi news channels because IBM Lokmat has gone down in TRP and advertising. There was competition between IBN Lokmat, ABP Mazha and Zee 24tass. However, over the last one year there is no competition between these news channels. Also there is no quality news gathering, quality of format and quality programmes.
If there is no competition you lose the passion and that is what has happened with Marathi news channels. At this point in time, if someone tries to break the format and comes up with something new, it will be great and viewers will definitely like it.
What is the target group for regional news channels?
Target audience for Marathi regional channels are all Marathi speaking audiences. They cater to middle class, higher middle class, rural and urban audience. Everyone has a different taste and a news channel should look after all its target audiences but sometimes you don’t need to look for a TG because some stories are important for the nation news wise and at that time you don’t look for TG. Stories like farmers’ suicide, terrorist attacks and natural calamities are serious issues and you can’t look at the TG before showcasing them.
BENGALURU: Network18 Media & Investments Limited (Network18) reported 12 per cent growth in consolidated income from operations (TIO) to Rs 793.65 crore in the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q1-2016) as compared to the Rs 708.39 crore in Q1-2015. TIO in Q1-2016 was however 5.7 per cent lower than the Rs 841.43 crore in Q4-2015.
The company reported a consolidated loss of Rs 5.96 crore in the current quarter as compared to the massive onetime adjustment loss of Rs 1156.50 crore after the Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Limited took over the company. Network18 had reported a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 45.33 crore in Q4-2015.
Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
The company’s Media Operations segment, TV18 Broadcast Ltd, in which Network18 has holdings, reported a 3.5 per cent growth in revenue to Rs 718.79 crore in Q1-2016 from Rs 694.08 crore in Q1-2015, but reported a decline of 13.7 per cent from the Rs 832.63 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. The segment reported a lower operating loss of Rs 15.80 crore in the current quarter as compared to an operating loss of Rs 83.72 crore in Q1-2015 and an operating profit of Rs 58.64 crore in Q4-2015.
Network18’s Film Production and Distribution (Film) segment reported more than threefold increase (3.67 times) in revenue to Rs 52.61 crore in Q1-2016 as compared to the Rs 14.32 crore in Q1-2015 and an almost eleven fold increase from the Rs 4.8 crore in Q4-2015. The film segment reported an operating profit of Rs 1.34 crore in Q1-2016 as compared to a loss of Rs 0.95 crore in Q1-2015 and a loss of Rs 2.44 crore in Q4-2015.
The company’s Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA, includes other income) in Q1-2016 at Rs 49.1 crore (6.2 per cent margin) was almost double (1.99 times) the Rs 24.7 crore (3.5 per cent margin) in Q1-2015, but was less than half again as much (49.3 per cent) of the Rs 99.6 crore in Q4-2015.
Network18 reported 10.7 per cent increase in total expenditure to Rs 811.9 crore (102.3 per cent of income from operations) in Q1-2016 as compared to the Rs 733.5 crore (103.5 per cent of income from operations) in Q1-2015 and 2.9 per cent more than the Rs 789 crore (93.8 per cent of income from operations) in Q4-2015.
Network18 employee benefit expense in Q1-2016 at Rs 159.8 crore (20.1 per cent of income from operations) was 8.9 per cent more than the Rs 146.8 crore (20.7 per cent of income from operations) in Q1-2015 and was 11.3 per cent more than the Rs 143.6 crore (17.1 per cent of income from operations) in Q4-2015.
Network18 programming cost in Q1-2016 at Rs 206.3 crore (26 per cent of income from operations) was 21.7 per cent more than the Rs 169.5 crore (23.9 per cent of income from operations) in Q1-2015 and was almost flat (0.8 per cent lower) than the Rs 208 crore (24.7 per cent of income from operations) in the immediate trailing quarter.
TV18 Broadcast Limited
TV18 reported a 13.1 per cent growth in consolidated income from operations to Rs 596.7 crore in Q1-2015 as compared to the Rs 527.7 crore in Q1-2015, but a 5.2 per cent decline as compared to the Rs 629.7 crore in Q4-2015. TV18 reported a loss of Rs 4.2 crore in the current quarter as compared to the onetime adjustment loss of Rs 214.2 crore in Q1-2015 and a profit of Rs 86.3 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
TV18’s EBIDTA (including other income) in Q1-2016 at Rs 20 crore (3.4 per cent margin) was a little more than one third (37.4 per cent) of the Rs 53.5 crore (10.1 per cent margin) and less than one-fifth (15.6 times) the Rs 111.3 crore (17.7 per cent margin) in Q4-2015.
TV18’s total expenditure in Q1-2016 increased 17 per cent to Rs 595.9 crore (99.9 per cent of income from operations) from Rs 509.5 crore (96.6 per cent of income from operations) and increased 7.4 per cent from Rs 555.1 crore (88.2 per cent of income from operations) in Q4-2015.
A major expenditure increase was TV18’s marketing, distribution and promotional expense in Q1-2016 by 33 per cent to Rs 135.9 crore (22.8 per cent of income from operations) from Rs 102.2 crore (19.4 per cent of income from operations) in Q1-2015 and an increase of 19.7 per cent as compared to the Rs 113.5 crore (18 per cent of income from operations) in the immediate trailing quarter.
Click here to read unaudited financial of Network 18
MUMBAI: Turner Broadcasting System owned American giant CNN’s tie up with Reliance Industries’ TV18 will cease to exist, come January 2016.
Amidst speculations of various possible team ups CNN International chief commercial officer Rani Raad informs Indiantelevision.com, “The partnership ran the natural course of its agreement and a mutual decision was made to chart our own respective growth independently. We are very proud of what we have co-created with TV18 for the Indian market.”
In an official media statement Network18 Group CEO A.P. Parigi said, “The last decade has seen a lot of momentum in the Indian media industry and has been particularly exciting for us. During this time we witnessed two media houses coming together to redefine the way news is presented to a demanding audience; we at TV18 have benefited from this relationship with CNN. At the launch of the channel, TV18 was a relatively small organisation; that has changed now. Network18 has grown from two news channels in 2005 to 17 news channels in 2015. Today, we have the largest footprint in the current affairs, regional and business news space in India. The TV18 line-up of channels today are well established and highly regarded in this dynamic, complex and challenging environment.”
The venture is yet to come to a consensus and is currently exploring all the options. “CNN remains deeply committed to long-term participation in India, one of the world’s largest and most vibrant media markets. As is the natural course of business, we continue to explore opportunities in India and every other important market around the world. Our #1 international news brand in Asia Pacific and the rest of the world, and the winner of multiple prestigious awards, CNN International, continues to lead and serve consumers in India with the best of global news content across multi-platforms,” informs Raad.
With media reports suggesting a possible tie-up between CNN and Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL), a source close to the development says, “Yes, CNN is in talks with ZMCL. But, it will be premature to say that the deal has been locked, as CNN is speaking to other players in the market as well.”
The partnership started in 2005 with CNN Turner International signing a deal with TV18 group company Global Broadcast News (GBN), which was then headed by journalist Rajdeep Sardesai. This marked the launch of CNN-IBN. Last year, Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Industries took total ownership of Network 18 Media which was founded by Raghav Bhal in 1993.
MUMBAI: As Network18’s news channels CNN-IBN and IBN7’s special programming around Modi Government’s one year in power draws to a close, the channels presented a special poll for its viewers assessing the government’s performance from the citizen’s perspective.
Marking a shift in leadership and style of governance, the Modi Government undertook a series of measures to achieve the vision of a better India. To evaluate the impact of these changes at the ground level, Axis MyIndia conducted a comprehensive survey across 23 states and more than 155 districts with a sample size of 20,000 across all age groups of society with a 70/30 urban-rural spread.
The survey findings showed that over 72 per cent of the respondents said that they were satisfied with the performance of the Modi Government on account of development, skillful governance and lower prices in the previous year. Close to 56 per cent of the sample, believed that Modi is an effective Prime Minister and has helped improve India’s image globally.
Network18 news president Umesh Upadhyay said, “We have always ensured to follow the most robust and scientific research processes to truly capture the voice of the people. This survey is another initiative driven by this thought process and we believe that it reflects the sentiments of the common men and women of this country, most accurately, with regards to the performance of the Modi Government as it reaches the crucial milestone of an year in office.”
On the issue of the relationship between the Government and RSS, 32 per cent of the respondents felt that there was no interference by RSS in the affairs of the government. On the impact of controversial statements such as those relating to Ghar Wapasi, approx 31 per cent of the respondent felt that such statement do not dent the image of the Government at all whereas approx 33 per cent felt that such statements do have an adverse impact; overall 43 per cent of the respondents felt that those making controversial statement should be controlled.
MUMBAI: As the NDA Government completes a year in office, Network18 has launched an initiative called Modi Sarkar – Year One Dialogue.
The initiative will see policy makers from the NDA government and experts from various fields discussing and assessing the series of administrative measures taken by the new regime with a vision for a better India in a day-long conclave.
Modi Sarkar – One Year Dialogue is the third in a row of Network 18 dialogues.
IBN Network CEO Avinash Kaul said, “Modi Sarkar – Year One Dialogue will serve as a beneficial platform to examine key areas of the reforms brought in by the Modi Government and give our audience a recap of how the world’s largest democracy sees the first year of the Modi government’s vision for India.”
Keeping in mind the importance of the first anniversary of this NDA government Modi Sarkar – Year One Dialogue will review the key priority areas of the government and their road map to achieve the stated objectives. The day-long conclave will review the last year of Modi governance and check whether the trajectory of the stated policy framework is on the right course. Including multiple panels, keynotes, and interactions, the dialogue will see a recap of the initiatives taken in the past year.
Modi Sarkar – Year One Dialogue will also host dignitaries from diverse backgrounds such as ministers, bureaucrats, policy consultants, diplomats and industry heads who will deliberate upon key topics ranging from Make in India, Brand India Under Modi, Maximum Governance Minimum Government and Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas (Inclusive Growth).
Network18 Group president, news Umesh Upadhyay said, “We at IBN Network aim to use this occasion to host the top policy makers in the NDA government to share their journey so far; record their achievements and share dispassionately the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
The conclave will be hosted on 22 May and will be broadcast across Network18 channels including CNN-IBN and IBN7.
MUMBAI: During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to China, Network18 hosted The India-China Dialogues, which successfully mirrored the emerging dynamism in bilateral policy making and reflected on areas of mutual cooperation between India and China.
The event witnessed top policymakers from both India and China and discussed challenges and common goals in an effort to chart a blueprint for an ambitious and constructive partnership with the two nations.
The dialogue hosted detailed discussion where some of the respected names in the industry put forth their views on significant topics such as technology cooperation, business prospects with Make in India, trade and investment and potential of the bilateral ties.
Some of the key people representing the Chinese were Elion Group chairman and member of the Communist Party of China Wang Wenbiao; Development Research Center, State Council senior economist Ding Yifan; former Chinese Counsellor to India Deng Junbing; China Center for Contemporary World Studies senior researcher Wang Dong and CIIS senior researcher Jia Xiudong.
Meanwhile, Indian policy makers and influencers in attendance were India Foundation director and BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav; economist Arvind Virmani; Institute of Chinese Studies, India assistant director Jabin Jacob and former ambassador of India to France and Germany Amb TCA Rangachari.
Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion secretary Amitabh Kant and former minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh made an important contribution to the dialogue by means of audio-visual messages.
Some of the key highlights from the conclave:
Speaking at the dialogues, CNN-IBN managing editor Radhakrishnan Nair said, “Success happens when preparation and opportunities meet. In China, we say that there is preparation and execution. In India, we find that execution is where we lack. In terms of trade and economy, India should learn from the Chinese, and the question for China is, should China invest in India? Challenges are there but opportunities are immense if India and China come together.”
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav added, “President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi are making serious efforts to take our bilateral relations to newer levels. With two strong governments and two strong leaders, we should now engage with each other in registering what I call gradual progress on all outstanding issues. We also need to create more freedom and relaxation in visa regimes. As our PM highlighted during the visit of President Xi Jinping to India, we also have to register some progress on issues like our border. We have to ensure that peace is restored on the border.”
Government of India DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant said, “India and China are the two most dynamic economies of the world. What we are witnessing today is the revival of these Asian economies at the centre stage of the global economy. China & Indian economies are not competitive in nature but complimentary to each other. China has been the factory of the world, India has been the back office of the world and it is important that both of us work together. The strategy for China should be ‘Invested by China but Made in India.”
Former Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh touched upon areas of investment, water resource planning, green economy and people to people collaboration. He said, “Green economy is an area of strategic leadership for both China and India. This is an area in which both countries can work together and learn from each other. Similarly, water resource planning between the two countries is crucial. People-to-people collaboration between the two countries has tremendous possibilities. Clearly India and China must work together. We have our differences which are being discussed and hopefully they will get sorted out.”
The dialogue served as a critical platform to discuss key issues pertaining to Asia’s two leading economies and the way forward for both. The dignitaries gave a fresh perspective to Indo-china relations and the scope of their working together.
The dialogue was hosted on 12 May, 2015 at Park Hyatt, Beijing and broadcast across the leading Network18 channels including CNN-IBN and IBN7.