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Tag: Network18

  • Media tome throws light on the biz growth pre and post pandemic

    Media tome throws light on the biz growth pre and post pandemic

    Mumbai: The Indian media business is estimated to be a $19 billion industry in 2021 (EY estimates), said veteran business journalist Vanita Kohli-Khandekar. She observed that the media industry had doubled in the period between 2013 to 2019. But what’s remarkable is not only the change in size but also the composition of the industry.

    Khandekar was speaking at the launch of the latest edition of her book- ‘The Indian Media Business: Pandemic and After’ on Wednesday. The fifth edition of the book published by Sage Publications India was unveiled at a virtual event attended by noted industry leaders.

    To highlight the transformation that the industry has undergone in recent times, she opened the discussion with an intriguing question “What is a media company?”.

    Unlike in the past where media companies used to compete for consumers’ leisure time, today media consumption is no longer only about leisure and entertainment but has permeated every aspect of the consumers’ lives. “The pandemic imprisoned audiences in their homes and access to media via their smartphones, TVs and other devices were the only way they were connected to the world,” she said.

    In FY 2010, the top 10 media companies comprised Times Group (Rs 5000 crore), Zee Group (Rs 4,000 crore), Star India (Rs 3,500 crore), Airtel (Rs 2,900 crore), HT Media (Rs 1,500 crore), Sun (Rs 1,400 crore), Network18 (Rs 1,300 crore), Sony (Rs 1,300 crore), DB Corp (1,100 crore) and Jagran (Rs 900 crore). There isn’t a single digital media company in the top 10 list which is dominated entirely by linear broadcast media organisations.

    Fast forward to FY 2019 where the composition of the media landscape changed significantly. The top 10 companies were Zee Group (Rs 16,300 crore), Star India (Rs 13,500 crore), Times Group (Rs 10,000 crore), Google India (Rs 9,400 crore), Sony (Rs 6,300 crore), Tata Sky (Rs 6,200 crore), Network18 (Rs 5,100 crore), Airtel TV (Rs 4,100 crore), Sun Network (Rs 4,000 crore) and PVR Cinemas (Rs 3,100 crore).

    The pandemic reshuffled the top 10 companies once again but the composition remained largely unchanged. Disney-Star (Rs 14,350 crore), Zee Group (Rs 13,300 crore), Google India (Rs 13,000 crore), Times Group (Rs 10,000 crore), Sony (Rs 5,900 crore), Tata Sky (Rs 5,700 crore), Network18 (4,700 crore), Sun Network (Rs 3,800 crore), Airtel TV (Rs 3,100 crore) and Netflix (Rs 1,500 crore).

    Netflix breaking into the top 10 bracket in FY21 with only Rs 1,500 crore in revenues is indicative of how badly the pandemic impacted the industry on the whole. A leading cinema exhibition chain saw revenues drop from Rs 3,500 crores to effectively zero and a burn rate of Rs 100 crores a month in 2020. Khandekar observed that the opening of theatres and return of film exhibition business is a key indicator that the ecosystem has come back to health. Films are the Gangotri of the media business, she remarked.

    “A key trend during the pandemic was the explosion of audiences without the ability to monetise them,” said Khandekar. “Apart from digital media companies which saw a marginal increase in revenues, most media companies were not able to successfully monetise the growth in audiences during the pandemic.” According to her, Indian media companies have been successful at driving penetration of their business, however, post-pandemic they have realised the need to focus on effective monetisation.

    Khandekar observed that even though there is no import quota on entertainment in India, 90 per cent of the market is watching local content. “We don’t celebrate this industry enough,” she said, adding that the Indian media business is the highest tax-paying industry and could easily contribute five to seven per cent to the country’s GDP. Countries like the US and the UK nurture their media companies but in India, the TV broadcast ecosystem is caught in a regulatory mess and the entire industry is reeling from the pandemic. The media industry that employs over three million people is one of the best markers of India’s soft power,” she concluded.

    Some of the media industry leaders who attended the event included PVR Cinemas chairman and managing director Ajay Bijli, India Today Group vice-chairperson Kalli Purie, director of University of Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the study of journalism and professor of political communication Rasmus Kleis Nielsen and director of YouTube content partnerships at YouTube India Satya Raghavan.

  • Network18 reports 53 per cent EBITDA growth in Q2 FY22

    Network18 reports 53 per cent EBITDA growth in Q2 FY22

    Mumbai: Network18 Media and Investments Ltd has announced its results for the second quarter financial year 2022. The media company reported that the consolidated EBITDA for the quarter grew 53 per cent year-on-year and operating margin at 18.2 per cent.

    The entertainment margin stood at ~19 per cent and excluding film business, revenue was up by 31 per cent YoY. The news margin stood at ~18 per cent and news business revenue was up by 18 per cent YoY. The revenues for digital news rose by 55 per cent YoY and margins at ~17 per cent. Profit after tax rose to ~ Rs 200 crore.

    The company reported that its entertainment broadcast business saw a strong performance in Hindi and select regional markets and that its share of the entertainment portfolio rose 90bps quarter-on-quarter to 11.8 per cent. “This was despite a marginal decline in the entertainment and overall TV viewership, which has now settled at the pre-Covid-19 levels,” it noted.

    It also reported that entertainment revenues surpassed pre-Covid-19 as ad volumes registered strong growth during the quarter. “Having already scaled to FY20 levels in Q1, ad revenue registered a strong growth (vs both FY21, FY20) during the quarter, driven by an action-packed programming calendar that strengthened the network’s viewership share,” the company said.

    According to the company, domestic pay-TV subscription revenue for the quarter was flattish YoY while international pay-TV subscription revenue remains under stress.

    The company confirmed that Viacom18 has acquired the rights to the next FIFA World Cup 2022 to be held in Qatar. It has also acquired rights to three of the five most-watched football leagues in the world – La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), and Ligue 1 (France). It said, “Live sports on broadcast and digital platforms will complement the current entertainment offering and will strengthen the consumer value proposition of the network.”

    The company’s over-the-top platform Voot Select saw a sharp jump in paid subscribers during the quarter, which is attributed to the launch of “Bigg Boss OTT.” The show garnered more than 10 billion minutes of watch time (AVOD+SVOD) over a six-week period. The company reported that Voot was the fastest OTT to reach one million B2C subscribers.

    “This quarter has been quite remarkable, both from a macro as well as company’s point of view. The way the country came out of the grip of the second wave of Covid-19 was truly heartening and equally reassuring was the full-swing return of economic growth,” said Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai.

    “The outlook is looking quite promising from a medium-term perspective and this is good news for all our consumer-facing businesses. Our digital assets, both news and entertainment, got a lift during the pandemic and we continue to invest to leverage those gains. With expansion into the sports genre, we have taken a significant step towards scaling up our entertainment portfolio to the next level. This will help establish us as a truly integrated media company across broadcast, OTT, and content studio business spanning general entertainment, news, movies and sports,” he added.

  • CNBC-Awaaz launches 360-degree campaign ‘Munafe Ki Baat’

    CNBC-Awaaz launches 360-degree campaign ‘Munafe Ki Baat’

    Mumbai: Hindi business news channel CNBC-Awaaz launched a brand campaign called ‘Munafe Ki Baat’ across TV, social media, digital, and outdoor media in key markets including Mumbai and Gujarat.

    The campaign captures the brand ethos of becoming an integral part of the financial decision-making of its viewers. It features a series of testimonial videos depicting consumers sharing their ‘Munafa’ stories related to the brand, along with show-specific content pieces, said the statement.

    “The core philosophy of CNBC-Awaaz has always been the viewer’s profit i.e. Munafa,” said CNBC-Awaaz managing editor Shailendra Bhatnagar. “By leveraging our strong editorial expertise and expert-led insights, we enable them to make better financial decisions at every stage of their lives. ‘Munafe Ki Baat’ is our way of reliving our journey and renewing our commitment to our viewers.”

    The channel provides an all-around programming lineup – from in-depth coverage and expert analysis on stock market trading to simplifying personal finance and investments strategies in mutual funds, to tracking the latest trends in technology, auto, real-estate, to simplifying everyday finance and business news.

    “With this campaign, our endeavor has been to bring alive the proposition of ‘Munaafe Ki Baat’ which is at the very core of the brand, through innovative formats – advertising on OTT platforms, leveraging social and digital in a big way with curated properties, deploying an outdoor campaign across key markets of Mumbai and Gujarat, amongst others,” said Network18 chief executive officer – business news Smriti Mehra.  

  • Viacom18 appoints Jyoti Deshpande as CEO

    Viacom18 appoints Jyoti Deshpande as CEO

    Mumbai: Viacom18 on Thursday appointed Jyoti Deshpande as chief executive officer with immediate effect. She serves on the boards of Network18 and investee companies Balaji Telefilms and Saavn Media.

    In her new assignment, Deshpande will help bring synergies across all of Reliance’s media interests and investments and further equip the company to drive significant growth opportunities as the industry embraces digital transformation, said the statement.

    “Viacom18 is poised to grow as a truly integrated media company across broadcast, OTT and content studio business spanning general entertainment, movies and sports across languages,” said Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai. “Given Jyoti’s rich experience in the media sector around content, distribution and monetisation across traditional and emerging platforms, we believe she is best placed to lead the company and its operations.” 

    Deshpande brings over 27 years of experience in the media and entertainment business. Prior to this, she joined Reliance Industries in 2018 as president – media platform and content, after having successfully built a leading media company and pioneered its early disruptive entry into the OTT space. As a business leader in Reliance, Deshpande in the last three years, has leveraged her industry relationships to establish Jio Studios as a key player in the media value chain.

  • Viacom18 appoints Anil Jayaraj as CEO, sports

    Viacom18 appoints Anil Jayaraj as CEO, sports

    Mumbai: Viacom18 on Thursday announced the appointment of Anil Jayaraj as CEO – sports. He will be leading the media company’s foray into acquisition, broadcasting, and monetisation of sports properties. 

    In his most recent role, Jayaraj was with Star Sports as executive vice president responsible for ad sales, global syndication and cross-screen offer design and measurement. He led his team to deliver business performance across multiple sporting events including Indian Premier League, Cricket World Cup, Pro Kabaddi League, and Indian Super League.

    Previously, he worked at Pidilite Industries as chief marketing officer. Prior to that, he was at BP/Castrol for 16 years in sales and marketing roles based in the UK and India. Jayaraj has been a passionate follower of sports since childhood. He works as a mentor with various start-ups during his free time and conducts sessions/guest lectures on business and marketing at various B-Schools.

    Welcoming Jayaraj on board, Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai said, “As a leading media and entertainment network in India, Viacom18 has been dialing up its offerings to tap into whitespaces across platforms. We believe that sports is an important category in our promise to deliver wholesome entertainment to our over 800 million viewers across demographics and geographies. With his rich experience in identifying and building sporting events into high-value sportainment phenomena, Anil is aptly poised to lead our newest sports vertical.”  

    “Sporting events in India have evolved beyond just one or two games with increasing fandom amongst audiences towards newer competitive sports. This democratisation has created an unmatched opportunity for sportainment and I am excited to build Viacom18 network’s foray into sports as a category,” stated Jayaraj.

  • Network18 posts net profit of Rs 121 cr in Q1′ 21

    Network18 posts net profit of Rs 121 cr in Q1′ 21

    New Delhi: Network18 Media & Investments Ltd reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 121.51 crore for the first quarter ended June 2021. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 60.60 crore for the April-June period of the previous fiscal.

    Consolidated revenue from operations rose 50.47 per cent to Rs 1,214.43 crore, as against Rs 807.07 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. The operating margin stood at 15.5 per cent, highest-ever in the first quarter, despite the impact of the second wave. News margin at 15 per cent, revenue up 17 per cent YoY, while digital News maintained its break-even; revenue rose 89 per cent YoY (up 44 per cent vs Q1FY20).

    Total expenses were at Rs 1,080.79 crore, up 23.99 per cent from Rs 871.65 crore earlier.

    TV News advertising remained resilient despite the second wave, led by a rise in news consumption and digital events replacing physical ones. News genre viewership jumped 28 per cent quarter-to-quarter led by the second wave and multiple state and elections. “The TV News ad-revenue remained in growth territory vs Q1FY20, adjusted for election-linked advertising, Digital News was minimally impacted by the second wave. Growing salience of the medium for advertisers as well as consumers (especially during COVID peaks) supported revenue,” said the company.

    Network18 Chairman Adil Zainulbhai said, “The second wave of COVID-19 could have been the dominant theme for the industry and indeed for us during the quarter…. but it wasn’t. We have been able to continue our businesses relentlessly and profitably. While advertising hit a speedbreaker (primarily in entertainment), growing engagement on our platforms across TV and Digital make us confident of delivering for all our stakeholders even amidst a choppy environment. We continue to invest to ramp up offerings on our class-leading digital platforms, as their reach expands to highest ever levels. At the same time, we are selectively creating segmented offerings to enhance our TV portfolio in a capital-efficient manner.”

  • Rahul Joshi’s tenure as MD, Network18 extended till July, 2024.

    Rahul Joshi’s tenure as MD, Network18 extended till July, 2024.

    New Delhi: Rahul Joshi has been re-appointed as the managing director of Network18 for a period of three years. He will hold the position up to 8 July 2024, said the company on Friday.

    The appointment is subject to the approval of the shareholders. The information was submitted by Network18 in a BSE filing. “Joshi is not related to any of the directors of the Company and he is not debarred from holding the office of director by virtue of any order of SEBI or any such other authority,” it added.

    Joshi has been associated with Network18 Group since September 2015 and initially served as chief executive officer, News and group editor-in-chief. In 2018, the Board of Directors of Network18 Media and Investments (Network18) elevated Joshi to the position of managing director of Network18 for a term of three years up to 8 July 2021.

    Prior to joining Network18 Group, he worked with Economic Times (ET) for over two decades, and rose through ranks to become one of the youngest editors. He has also worked as its editorial director, and played a key role in the launch of ETNow, and shaping the digital coverage of ET Online. He has also worked with The Indian Express. Joshi was also on the board of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA). 

  • RIL’s M&E biz EBITDA margin rises to 17% in FY21

    RIL’s M&E biz EBITDA margin rises to 17% in FY21

    KOLKATA: Despite all odds, Reliance Industry Limited’s (RIL) media & entertainment business has recorded profitability during the pandemic-hit financial year. According to the company’s latest annual report, Network18’s consolidated operating margins expanded to 17 per cent in FY 21, up from 11.5 per cent in FY 20, RIL’s annual report said.

    Consolidated EBITDA of the business rose 29 per cent y-o-y to Rs 796 crore despite the pandemic impact dragging revenue down by 12 per cent y-o-y. The company’s overall profitability was attributed to cost controls and concerted efforts to increase annuity-style revenue streams, including subscription and syndication.

    The margins of the news business expanded all through the year, despite pandemic-linked logistics constraints and blackout of BARC ratings in the second half of the financial year, the report added. Overall news segment’s operating margins expanded to 13 per cent. The TV News operating margin expanded to 16 per cent, marking four years of continuous improvement. In addition to that, digital news broke even on a full-year basis, driven by accelerated revenue growth.

    Despite the Covid-19 impact, entertainment margins went up to 19 per cent thanks to operating leverages. TV Entertainment grew viewership share by two per cent to 10.9 per cent. One in two Indians watch Network18 television channels that reach more than 95 per cent of TV homes in India annually, as per the report.

    The entire M&E industry started on a weak note in FY21 due to the onset of the pandemic, but there was a turnaround during the second half of the year. For Network18, TV News advertising recovered by the second quarter itself growing across the year. Entertainment advertising revived fully by the third quarter, led by a full content roster. Strong viewership trends for Hindi GECs, both pay, and FTA, drove underlying ad growth into high-single digits by the fourth quarter.

    Digital media platforms witnessed an increase in content consumption. Digital advertising gained momentum from the platforms’ inherent advantages of being able to target audiences, drive personalisation, and lower costs.

    “Digital engagement continued to grow due to the volume of high-quality content and key events. Industry sources indicate a ten per cent y-o-y increase in OTT video consumption. Increased propensity to pay has been witnessed, amidst domestic OTTs increasing prices selectively, while global players create India-specific cheaper offerings. Digital subscription revenue continued to rise sharply, albeit off a low base, both from B2C (direct) and B2B (telco-driven) distribution of OTT platforms,” the company stated on Thursday. The company was also satisfied with domestic subscription revenue in the M&E segment which remained strong, despite the stress in international. Improved distribution tie-ups for TV and Digital have driven the subscription growth.

    The leading OTT platform under RIL’s M&E bouquet, Voot, garnered 12 billion minutes of watch time during FY21 and was the number two broadcaster-OTT, it said in its report. According to the company, Voot Select was the fastest to reach one million D2C subscribers, thanks to original content, digital-first TV content, and digital-only spin-offs.

  • Network18 Digital appoints Siddharth Raj Jain as the chief technology officer

    Network18 Digital appoints Siddharth Raj Jain as the chief technology officer

    KOLKATA: Network18 has announced the appointment of Siddharth Raj Jain as its CTO of Network18 Digital. Jain, in his new role, will take up the responsibility of all technology functions for Network18 Digital to enable the company’s continued national and regional growth, as well as oversee the company’s technology teams. Focusing on its strong digital presence, he will leverage his experience and strength of the Network to accelerate growth for the content business.

    Jain brings in more than two decades of experience in technology and product development across Fintech, Ad Tech, Navigation and Software Development. Prior to this role, he has worked with PayU where he is credited with building the consumer credit business of LazyPay and also led data & engineering for the consumer business. In addition to that, he has also worked with Infosys, Subex, Nokia (India) and Inmobi.

     “I am delighted to be a part of a leading media conglomerate like Network18. As a fan of products that this team has built, I await connecting with the team and hearing their success stories. I feel fortunate to be surrounded by a tremendous team of professionals who are dedicated to creating a positive and digitized experience for the audience and look forward to being part of this team for the upcoming seasons of ‘Success Stories’,” he shared.

    With ever increasing focus on technology, Network18 Digital has scaled up the reach of its content at a fast pace. He will report to Puneet Singhvi, president – Digital & Corporate Development, Network18.

  • Network18 & Viacom18 dole out 100% variable pay to employees

    Network18 & Viacom18 dole out 100% variable pay to employees

    KOLKATA: Amid the second wave of the Covid2019 crisis, many organisations are taking initiatives for the well-being of their workforce. Even as several news and media enterprises are slashing salaries or resorting to mass lay-offs, Network18 and Viacom18 has paid all eligible employees the variable portion of remuneration for the last appraisal year ahead of schedule.

    It is to be noted that this measure of variable payout is not related to performance ratings this year.

    This financial relief is in addition to the media group’s drive to get its employees and their families vaccinated against Covid.

    “This gesture of 100 per cent variable payout irrespective of performance this year is a small token of the company’s appreciation of your efforts during these challenging times,” Network18 managing director Rahul Joshi wrote in an internal email to employees.

    In the email, Joshi also requested them to take better care of their health, and to refrain from taking unnecessary risks to prevent health hazards. He also asked employees to reach out to each other, and to the organisation in case of any emergency.