ITV

Tag: News Corporation

  • Scale is important; has to be focused right: Fox executive chair & CEO Lachlan Murdoch

    Scale is important; has to be focused right: Fox executive chair & CEO Lachlan Murdoch

    Mumbai: Addressing analysts during a conference call to announce the company’s Q1’23 results, Fox executive chair & CEO Lachlan Murdoch spoke about the importance of scale. Fox’s assets include the juggernaut Fox News. Fox posted revenue of $3.19 billion, up 5 per cent a year ago.

    “Look, I think you know the scale; it has to be focused right. Scale is important, and what we’ve seen amongst our media peers over the last few years is that our peers are getting bigger through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and so I think scale lends flexibility in many ways. So, we continue to grow our business, we continue to look at M&A and be very disciplined in how we look at it, but we also do look at the importance of scale, particularly over the next couple of years when, I think, opportunities in the marketplace will emerge. They have the scale to be flexible, and how we deal with them will be important,” he said.

    In terms of a potential reunion of Fox and News Corporation, Murdoch declined to take questions. “As has been made public, both Fox and News Corporation have formed separate special committees to explore a potential combination following letters received from my father, Rupert Murdoch, and the Murdoch Family Trust. For a combination transaction to proceed, it will need the approval of both special committees and a supportive vote by the majority of the minority non-affiliated shareholders of each company.”

    He added, “The special committee has not made any determination at this time, and there can be no certainty that the company will engage in such a transaction. Given the importance of the work of the special committees, I’m not in a position to take any questions on the proposed transaction at this time.” 

    Murdoch pointed out that the company’s fiscal year is off to a good start. “The September quarter results once again highlight the strength of our leadership brands, and we are just getting started on what promises to be a banner year for Fox. We are encouraged by the operating trends across the portfolio and the early returns on our digital investments. When paired with our strong balance sheet and low leverage, the Fox story remains a differentiated one amongst its media peers. And while we continue to be mindful of how the macroeconomic environment evolves during the months ahead, Fox remains well positioned to navigate and outperform through any potential uncertainty.”

    Talking about the ad scene, he said that the ad growth in the quarter was driven by strong pricing at Fox News and Fox Sports. “Record first quarter political revenues at the local stations, and in a quarter where industry-wide digital advertising revenues appear to have been under pressure, to post standout revenue growth of almost 30 per cent.”

    He added, however, that the company recognises that there is a lot of commentary around advertising headwinds as the macro environment evolves. “Yes, the broader national advertising market is looking more fluid compared to the time of our last earnings call. However, the macro impact is not uniform across our verticals.”

    “We have observed some softness in the linear entertainment scatter marketplace. Remember that Fox does not over-index to network entertainment. So, any impact there is, is nominal to us and has been more than offset by the digital entertainment strength delivered by Tubi,” he went on.

    Murdoch said, “Additionally, despite the economic headwinds, we are seeing continued strength across our linear news and sports portfolios, led by the pharmaceutical, restaurant, and streaming categories. These dynamics underscore a flight to quality, and the importance of our focus on live content, with over two-thirds of our advertising revenue generated by live sports and news.”

    Fox News, he noted, turned in another stellar performance, finishing the fiscal first quarter as the number one channel on cable and the third most viewed network in Weekday Prime in all of television, behind only NBC and CBS.

  • Global TV advertising market reached $278 billion in 2020

    Global TV advertising market reached $278 billion in 2020

    Mumbai: The global television advertising market reached a value of $278 billion in 2020, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s latest report titled ‘Television Advertising Market: Global Size, Share, Revenue Statistics, Research Report & Forecast 2021-2026’. Looking forward, the publisher expects it to exhibit moderate growth during the next five years.

    Television represents one of the most popular and widespread forms of media worldwide with around 1.6 billion households having one or more television sets. The prevalence of television makes it a preferred choice for advertisements for both large and small businesses. It also offers advertisers the ability to use motion, colour and audio to send a strong and persuasive message to the audience. The audio-visual effects also help in creating a long-lasting and emotional impact depending on the services and audience of the advertisement.

    In spite of the competition from new media platforms, television is expected to remain as the largest advertisement segment. Moreover, the increasing penetration of television in emerging markets such as Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle-East, China and India is also expected to drive the television advertisement market in these regions, thereby facilitating the overall growth globally, according to the report.

    It has segmented the market on the basis of service type. Currently, terrestrial TV networks dominate the market accounting for the majority of the total global share. Terrestrial networks are followed by multi-channel and online television segments. Online television currently represents the fastest growing segment. The report has also segmented the market on the basis of industry, listing the key industries which are actively using television advertising.

    The study has further analysed the market on the basis of key regions. North America currently represents the largest region for television advertising. Other key regions include Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Middle-East and Africa. The report has also analysed the competitive landscape of the market. Some of the key global players operating in this market are CBS, Comcast, News Corporation, Viacom and Cox Communications.

    The report provides a deep insight into the global television advertising industry covering all its essential aspects ranging from macro overview of the market to micro details of the industry performance, key market drivers and challenges, recent trends, Porter’s five forces analysis, television advertising pricing models, margins in television advertising and more.

  • US$ 232-bn TV ads market expanding at 7% CAGR, online TV fastest growing: Report

    MUMBAI: The global television advertisement market has reached a value of around US$ 232 bn in 2016, exhibiting a CAGR of around 6.8% during 2009-2016. “Research and Markets” recently announced the addition of the “Global Television Advertising Market Report & Forecast 2017-2022” report to their offering.

    Some of the key global players operating in this market are CBS, Comcast, News Corporation, Viacom and Cox Communications, the report states.

    In spite of the competition from new media platforms, television is expected to remain as the largest advertisement segment. Moreover, the increasing penetration of television in emerging markets, such as Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle-East, China and India is also expected to drive the television advertisement market in these regions, thereby facilitating the overall growth of the global television advertisement market.

    The report has segmented the market on the basis of service type. Currently, terrestrial TV networks dominate the market, accounting for the majority of the total global share. Terrestrial networks are followed by multi-channel and online television segments.

    Online television currently represents the fastest growing segment. The report has also segmented the market on the basis of industry, listing the key industries which are actively using television advertising.

  • Q2-2016: News Corp lower ad, book publishing revenues, forex lower overall revenue

    Q2-2016: News Corp lower ad, book publishing revenues, forex lower overall revenue

    BENGALURU: Strong growth in the Digital Real Estate Services segment at News Corporation (News Corp) was offset by lower advertising revenues at the News and Information Services segment and lower consumer revenues at the Book Publishing segment for the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q2-2016, current quarter). News Corp reported year-on-year (YoY) 4.3 per cent revenue decline in the current quarter at $2,161 million as compared to $2,258 million. As a matter of fact, except for News Corp’s Digital Real Estate Services segment, all other segments reported lower revenues and EBIDTA.

    News Corp’s News and Information Services segment revenue fell 8.1 per cent YoY in Q2-2016 to $1,400 million as compared to $1,523 million, while revenue from its Book Publishing segment declined 4.9 per cent YoY in the current quarter to $446 million as compared to $469 million. Digital Real Estate Services segment revenue increased 35.1 per cent YoY to $208 million from $154 million. The decline in total reported revenues includes a negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations of $141 million says the company.

    News Corp reported Q2-2016 Total Segment EBITDA of $280 million, a 20 per cent decline as compared to $352 million in Q2-2015. Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA in Q2-2016 declined 16.8 per cent to $317 million, compared to $381 million in the corresponding prior year quarter. The company says that continued strength at the Digital Real Estate Services segment was more than offset by the declines at the News and Information Services, Book Publishing, and Cable Network Programming segments. Negative foreign currency fluctuations reduced Total Segment EBITDA by $25 million as compared to Q2-2015.

    Company speak

    News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said, “News Corp is evolving rapidly into a more digital and increasingly global company with a diverse revenue mix that we believe will drive long-term growth in profits and shareholder returns. The company is, by most measures, the world’s largest player in digital real estate, a position certainly enhanced by the rapid growth in the US of realtor.com.”

    “In our News and Information Services segment, print advertising remained challenged, but we are seeing growth in digital advertising and circulation revenues. We are particularly focused on cost reductions and sharing services around News Corp to streamline operations at the newspapers in Australia and the UK,” he added.

    “Unruly, the viral digital advertising company acquired late last year, has been swiftly integrated into many of our companies, bringing cutting-edge metrics and a savvy social sensibility. We are developing advertising products for clients keen to benefit from the rise of video and mobile, and taking advantage of our world-class mastheads which are increasingly powerful platforms, editorially and commercially,” Thomson said.

    “Macro-economic conditions in most of our markets have not been auspicious, and foreign exchange fluctuations have been particularly volatile, but we believe in the enduring value of our prestigious brands and the sound logic of our digital strategy,” he added.

    Segment results

    News and Information Services segment

    News and Information Services segment revenues have been mentioned above. News Corp says that total segment advertising revenues declined 12 per cent, primarily due to weakness in print advertising, negative foreign currency fluctuations and lower revenues at News America Marketing, partially offset by growth in digital advertising revenues, including at Dow Jones, where digital revenues accounted for approximately one-third of advertising revenues in the quarter. Circulation and subscription revenues declined five per cent, due to negative foreign currency fluctuations. Growth in paid digital subscribers in the US and Australia, higher subscription pricing and selected cover price increases offset print volume declines and the impact from the change in the digital strategy at The Sun. At Dow Jones, the company continued to see modest growth of professional information business revenues.

    Segment EBITDA decreased $58 million in Q2-2016 to $158 million as compared $216 million in Q2-2015. Adjusted Segment EBITDA decreased 22 per cent compared to the prior year, driven by lower advertising revenues, higher promotion and marketing costs in the UK and transaction costs of $5 million related to the acquisition of Unruly.

    Book Publishing segment

    Book Publishing segment revenues mentioned above declined due to lower e-book sales, negative foreign currency fluctuations and lower revenues from the Divergent series, partially offset by strong sales in General Books resulting from the popularity of The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime by Ree Drummond. Digital sales represented 16 per cent of consumer revenues for the quarter. Segment EBITDA for the quarter decreased $20 million, or 26 per cent, from the prior year, primarily due to the factors noted above. Adjusted revenues decreased three per cent and Adjusted Segment EBITDA decreased 25 per cent compared to the prior year.

    Digital Real Estate Services segment

    Digital Real Estate Services revenues mentioned above increased primarily driven by the inclusion of the results of Move, acquired in November 2014. At REA Group Limited, increased revenues from greater residential listing depth product penetration were offset by negative foreign currency fluctuations. Segment EBITDA in the quarter increased $16 million, or 28. per cent to $73 million, compared to the $57 million in the corresponding prior year quarter, primarily due to the increased revenues noted above and the absence of one-time transaction costs of $16 million related to the acquisition of Move, partially offset by negative foreign currency fluctuations.

    Cable Network Programming segment

    In Q2-2016, revenues decreased $6 million, or 5.4 per cent YoY to $106 million, compared to $112 million in the corresponding prior year quarter. Adjusted revenues increased 10 per cent, primarily due to higher affiliate and advertising revenues. Segment EBITDA in Q2-2016 decreased $15 million, or 27.8 per cent YoY to $39 million from $54 million as compared with the corresponding prior year period. Adjusted Segment EBITDA declined 22 per cent, primarily due to expected higher programming rights and production costs related to the Rugby World Cup of $11 million. Negative foreign currency fluctuations reduced reported revenues and Segment EBITDA for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 by $17 million and $3 million, respectively, as compared to the prior year.

    ‘Other’ segment

    Reported revenue for Q2-2016 was $1 million as compared to nil in Q2-2015. Segment EBITDA in the quarter improved by $5 million compared to the prior year, primarily due to lower fees and costs, net of indemnification, related to the claims and investigations arising out of certain conduct at The News of the World (UK Newspaper Matters). The net expense related to the UK Newspaper Matters was $7 million for the Q2-2016 as compared to $13 million for Q2-2016.

  • Q2-2016: News Corp lower ad, book publishing revenues, forex lower overall revenue

    Q2-2016: News Corp lower ad, book publishing revenues, forex lower overall revenue

    BENGALURU: Strong growth in the Digital Real Estate Services segment at News Corporation (News Corp) was offset by lower advertising revenues at the News and Information Services segment and lower consumer revenues at the Book Publishing segment for the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q2-2016, current quarter). News Corp reported year-on-year (YoY) 4.3 per cent revenue decline in the current quarter at $2,161 million as compared to $2,258 million. As a matter of fact, except for News Corp’s Digital Real Estate Services segment, all other segments reported lower revenues and EBIDTA.

    News Corp’s News and Information Services segment revenue fell 8.1 per cent YoY in Q2-2016 to $1,400 million as compared to $1,523 million, while revenue from its Book Publishing segment declined 4.9 per cent YoY in the current quarter to $446 million as compared to $469 million. Digital Real Estate Services segment revenue increased 35.1 per cent YoY to $208 million from $154 million. The decline in total reported revenues includes a negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations of $141 million says the company.

    News Corp reported Q2-2016 Total Segment EBITDA of $280 million, a 20 per cent decline as compared to $352 million in Q2-2015. Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA in Q2-2016 declined 16.8 per cent to $317 million, compared to $381 million in the corresponding prior year quarter. The company says that continued strength at the Digital Real Estate Services segment was more than offset by the declines at the News and Information Services, Book Publishing, and Cable Network Programming segments. Negative foreign currency fluctuations reduced Total Segment EBITDA by $25 million as compared to Q2-2015.

    Company speak

    News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said, “News Corp is evolving rapidly into a more digital and increasingly global company with a diverse revenue mix that we believe will drive long-term growth in profits and shareholder returns. The company is, by most measures, the world’s largest player in digital real estate, a position certainly enhanced by the rapid growth in the US of realtor.com.”

    “In our News and Information Services segment, print advertising remained challenged, but we are seeing growth in digital advertising and circulation revenues. We are particularly focused on cost reductions and sharing services around News Corp to streamline operations at the newspapers in Australia and the UK,” he added.

    “Unruly, the viral digital advertising company acquired late last year, has been swiftly integrated into many of our companies, bringing cutting-edge metrics and a savvy social sensibility. We are developing advertising products for clients keen to benefit from the rise of video and mobile, and taking advantage of our world-class mastheads which are increasingly powerful platforms, editorially and commercially,” Thomson said.

    “Macro-economic conditions in most of our markets have not been auspicious, and foreign exchange fluctuations have been particularly volatile, but we believe in the enduring value of our prestigious brands and the sound logic of our digital strategy,” he added.

    Segment results

    News and Information Services segment

    News and Information Services segment revenues have been mentioned above. News Corp says that total segment advertising revenues declined 12 per cent, primarily due to weakness in print advertising, negative foreign currency fluctuations and lower revenues at News America Marketing, partially offset by growth in digital advertising revenues, including at Dow Jones, where digital revenues accounted for approximately one-third of advertising revenues in the quarter. Circulation and subscription revenues declined five per cent, due to negative foreign currency fluctuations. Growth in paid digital subscribers in the US and Australia, higher subscription pricing and selected cover price increases offset print volume declines and the impact from the change in the digital strategy at The Sun. At Dow Jones, the company continued to see modest growth of professional information business revenues.

    Segment EBITDA decreased $58 million in Q2-2016 to $158 million as compared $216 million in Q2-2015. Adjusted Segment EBITDA decreased 22 per cent compared to the prior year, driven by lower advertising revenues, higher promotion and marketing costs in the UK and transaction costs of $5 million related to the acquisition of Unruly.

    Book Publishing segment

    Book Publishing segment revenues mentioned above declined due to lower e-book sales, negative foreign currency fluctuations and lower revenues from the Divergent series, partially offset by strong sales in General Books resulting from the popularity of The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime by Ree Drummond. Digital sales represented 16 per cent of consumer revenues for the quarter. Segment EBITDA for the quarter decreased $20 million, or 26 per cent, from the prior year, primarily due to the factors noted above. Adjusted revenues decreased three per cent and Adjusted Segment EBITDA decreased 25 per cent compared to the prior year.

    Digital Real Estate Services segment

    Digital Real Estate Services revenues mentioned above increased primarily driven by the inclusion of the results of Move, acquired in November 2014. At REA Group Limited, increased revenues from greater residential listing depth product penetration were offset by negative foreign currency fluctuations. Segment EBITDA in the quarter increased $16 million, or 28. per cent to $73 million, compared to the $57 million in the corresponding prior year quarter, primarily due to the increased revenues noted above and the absence of one-time transaction costs of $16 million related to the acquisition of Move, partially offset by negative foreign currency fluctuations.

    Cable Network Programming segment

    In Q2-2016, revenues decreased $6 million, or 5.4 per cent YoY to $106 million, compared to $112 million in the corresponding prior year quarter. Adjusted revenues increased 10 per cent, primarily due to higher affiliate and advertising revenues. Segment EBITDA in Q2-2016 decreased $15 million, or 27.8 per cent YoY to $39 million from $54 million as compared with the corresponding prior year period. Adjusted Segment EBITDA declined 22 per cent, primarily due to expected higher programming rights and production costs related to the Rugby World Cup of $11 million. Negative foreign currency fluctuations reduced reported revenues and Segment EBITDA for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 by $17 million and $3 million, respectively, as compared to the prior year.

    ‘Other’ segment

    Reported revenue for Q2-2016 was $1 million as compared to nil in Q2-2015. Segment EBITDA in the quarter improved by $5 million compared to the prior year, primarily due to lower fees and costs, net of indemnification, related to the claims and investigations arising out of certain conduct at The News of the World (UK Newspaper Matters). The net expense related to the UK Newspaper Matters was $7 million for the Q2-2016 as compared to $13 million for Q2-2016.

  • FY-2015: News & Info services retard News Corp revenue growth to 0.7%

    FY-2015: News & Info services retard News Corp revenue growth to 0.7%

    BENGALURU: A seven per cent drop in revenue in its largest segment – News & Information services dragged News Corporation’s total revenue to just 0.7 per cent growth to $8633 million in the year ended 30 June, 2015 (FY-2015) as compared to $8574 million in FY-2014. During the quarter ended ?30 June, 2015 (Q4-2015), the company’s NIS segment 10 per cent drop in revenues combined with the drop of two per cent from the Cable Programming Segment (CPS) saw News Corp total revenue drop 2.1 per cent to $2141 million as compared to the $2186 million in Q4-2014.

     

    The company explains that the majority of the revenue decline reflects adverse foreign currency fluctuations and lower advertising revenues at the News and Information Services segment, partially offset by growth in the Digital Real Estate Services and Book Publishing segments, primarily as a result of the acquisitions of Move and Harlequin, respectively.

     

    News Corp total EBIDTA however increased 10.6 per cent in the current year to $852 million as compared to the $770 million in FY-2014. YoY, News Corp total EBIDTA improved 50.4 per cent to $191 million in Q4-2015 as compared to the $127 million in Q4-2014. The company says that this increase was primarily driven by lower expenses at the News and Information Services and Digital Education segments, partially offset by adverse foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted Total Segment EBITDA increased 62 per cent compared to the prior year.

     

    News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said, “Thanks to solid performance across a number of our businesses, including the fast-growing realtor.com, we had a strong fourth quarter finish to a good fiscal year. Despite an uneven global economy, very tough currency headwinds and the ongoing transformation of the media landscape, for fiscal 2015 we posted stable revenues, robust EBITDA growth and healthy free cash flow.”

     

    “With disciplined internal investments, strategic acquisitions and ongoing product innovation, we have aggressively shifted the company to be more global and more digital. We have clearly emerged as an international leader in digital real estate, opened up new territories at HarperCollins, expanded digital subscriber penetration at our mastheads and successfully integrated our programmatic exchange, creating new digital and mobile advertising opportunities across News Corp. We have begun to execute on a capital return program that signifies our confidence in the prospects of the company and the efficacy of its long-term strategy. The year ahead will be an opportunity to build on the sound and profitable platform we have collectively created,” he added.

     

    Net loss available to News Corp stockholders in FY-2015 was $379 million as compared to net income available to News Corp stockholders of $12 million in FY-2014. Impairment and restructuring charges were $424 million and $21 million in Q4-2015 and Q4-2014 respectively. The impairment and restructuring charges for the three months ended 30 June, 2015 include an impairment charge of $371 million related to Amplify, as discussed above. Adjusted net income available to News Corp stockholders was $38 million compared to $6 million in the prior year.

     

    Segment Results

     

    News & Information Services (NIS)

     

    NIS FY-2015 full revenues decreased by $422 million, or seven per cent, compared to the prior year. Total segment advertising revenues declined 10 per cent, driven primarily by weakness in the print advertising market coupled with the negative impact of foreign currency fluctuations. Circulation and subscription revenues declined four per cent, due to adverse foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted revenues declined three per cent compared to the prior year.

     

    In FY-2015, NIS segment EBITDA decreased $62 million, or nine per cent, as compared to the prior year. The corporation says that results were impacted by lower advertising revenues, higher legal expenses at News America Marketing of $20 million, negative foreign currency fluctuations and one-time expenses of $11 million related to the termination of a distribution contract in connection with continued cost reduction initiatives, which more than offset lower operating expenses. Adjusted Segment EBITDA decreased six per cent compared to FY-2014.

     

    Revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 decreased $154 million, or 10 per cent, compared to the prior year, as a result of a 13 per cent decline in advertising revenues and a five per cent decline in circulation revenues, driven by negative foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted revenues declined two per cent compared to the prior year. Segment EBITDA increased $38 million in the quarter, or 29 per cent, as compared to Q4-2014. The increase was driven by lower operating expenses, partially offset by lower advertising revenues, one-time expenses of $11 million related to the termination of a distribution contract in connection with continued cost reduction initiatives and negative foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 34 per cent compared to the prior year.

     

     

    Book Publishing

     

    FY-2015 revenues for News Corp Book Publishing segment increased $233 million, or 16 per cent, compared to the prior year driven by the inclusion of Harlequin results and strong backlist sales in the general books category, resulting from the success of American Sniper by Chris Kyle, partially offset by lower revenues from the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Digital sales, which consist of revenues generated through the sale of e-books and digital audio books, represented 22 per cent of Consumer revenues for fiscal 2015. Segment EBITDA increased $24 million, or 12 per cent, from the prior year primarily due to the inclusion of the results of Harlequin and lower expenses, partially offset by lower contribution from the Divergent series. Adjusted revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA each decreased 2 per cent, compared to the prior year.

     

    Book Publishing Revenues in Q4-2015 increased $29 million, or eight per cent, compared to Q4-2014 driven by the inclusion of Harlequin results, partially offset by lower revenues from the Divergent series. Digital sales represented 23 per cent of Consumer revenues for the quarter. Segment EBITDA was flat from the prior year as the inclusion of results from Harlequin and lower expenses offset lower contribution from the Divergent series.

     

    Digital Real Estate Services (DRES)

     

    FY-2015 revenues increased for the DRES segment to $217 million, or 53 per cent, compared to FY-2014, primarily due to the inclusion of the results of Move, which was acquired in November 2014, coupled with higher revenues at REA Group Limited (REA Group) due to the impact of increased listing depth product penetration and higher pricing, despite a decline in Australian listing volumes across the market and the negative impact of foreign currency fluctuations. Segment EBITDA decreased $13 million, or six per cent, compared to the prior year primarily due to the inclusion of a loss of $39 million related to the acquisition of Move and negative foreign currency fluctuations, partially offset by increased revenues at REA Group. Segment EBITDA includes $21 million of stock-based compensation expense and $19 million of one-time transaction costs, both related to the acquisition of Move. Adjusted revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 18 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, compared to the prior year.

     

    For the full year, Move saw strength in its Connection for Co-Brokerage product and Media revenues. Based on Move’s internal data, average monthly unique users of realtor.com’s web and mobile sites for the fiscal fourth quarter grew 42 per cent year-over-year to approximately 45 million, which was driven by almost 80 per cent growth in mobile users; traffic accelerated in July to 48 million monthly unique users, or 43 per cent growth year-over-year.

     

    Revenues in Q4-2015 increased $76 million, or 67 per cent, compared to Q4-2014 due to the inclusion of the results of Move coupled with higher listing depth product penetration and higher pricing at REA Group. Segment EBITDA in the quarter decreased $17 million, or 27 per cent, compared to the prior year due to certain expenses at Move and the negative impact of foreign currency fluctuations, partially offset by the improvement at REA Group. At Move, strong revenue performance was offset by $7 million of legal expenses and $5 million of stock-based compensation expense related to the acquisition.

     

    Adjusted revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 15 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, compared to the prior year.

     

    Cable Networking Programming (CNP)

     

    CNP’s FY-2015 revenues increased $9 million, or two per cent, compared to the prior year driven by higher affiliate and advertising revenues, partially offset by adverse foreign currency fluctuations. Segment EBITDA increased $7 million, or five per cent, from FY-2014, primarily driven by higher revenues, partially offset by adverse foreign currency fluctuations and higher programming costs. Adjusted revenues and Adjusted Segment EBITDA for FY-2015 increased 11 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, compared to FY-2014.

     

    In Q4-2015, revenues decreased $3 million, or two per cent, compared to Q4-2014, as higher affiliate and advertising revenues were more than offset by negative foreign currency fluctuations. Segment EBITDA in the quarter increased $3 million, or 16 per cent, compared to the prior year. Adjusted revenues increased 15 per cent and Adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 37 per cent, compared to the prior year.

     

    Digital Education

     

    Revenues for the full year increased $21 million, or 24 per cent, compared to the prior year. Segment EBITDA improved $100 million, or 52 per cent, compared to the prior year, primarily due to the impact of the capitalization of Amplify Learning’s software development costs of $53 million, reduced development expenses and increased revenues.

     

    Revenues in Q4-2015 increased $6 million, or 33 per cent, and Segment EBITDA improved $29 million, or 55 per cent.

     

    Others

     

    In FY-2015, Others Segment EBITDA improved by $26 million, primarily due to decreased fees and costs, net of indemnification, related to the claims and investigations arising out of certain conduct at The News of the World (the U K Newspaper Matters”).

     

    The net expense related to the U K Newspaper Matters was $50 million for the full year, as compared to $72 million in the prior year.

     

    Segment EBITDA in the quarter improved by $11 million. The net expense related to the UK Newspaper Matters was $8 million for the three months ended 30 June, 2015, as compared to $16 million in the prior year.

  • Star India’s Uday Shankar’s Paley parley with Bobby Ghosh

    Star India’s Uday Shankar’s Paley parley with Bobby Ghosh

    MUMBAI: Did you know that Star Plus’ most talked about social show Satyamev Jayate (SMJ) may have never happened?

     

    Well, Star India CEO Uday Shankar shared nuggets such as these during his one-on-one with Time International editor Aparisim Bobby Ghosh in front of the Paley Media Council – an exclusive, invitation-only membership community for entertainment, media and technology industry executives and provides an independent forum for top industry leaders – at its media centre in New York on 30 May.

     

    Shankar addressed various topics like – the Star India Network’s – led by Star Plus – focus on women, the journey of its social cause show Satyamev Jayate and the evolution of Star India.

     

    He began by saying, “We were not okay with bringing the American culture concept into India and so decided to create Indian content for Indian people.”

     

    “Even though our pedigree is News Corporation and 21st Century Fox now, it was very clear that we were not bringing in American culture into India,” he added. Star India completely indigenised the content, because according to them, it was the only way. “Somebody had to own and so it was owned by the parent company, while we were told to go and create a business that was the right business for the Indian people and Indian society,” he said.

     

    Shankar further went on to say that his bosses always encouraged him to pursue the agenda of challenging the status quo. “We address whatever is not right in the country, whatever needs to change for people in the country. We at Star have never thought of going and telling people what they should be doing next. Our job is to focus the spotlight on what we believe needs to be questioned and what needs to be observed closely and questioned. And that’s where we leave it. That’s exactly what we have done with our content. Whether it’s our entertainment content, dramas, reality shows or finally SMJ.”

     

    “When I told my CFO that I was planning to do a show such as SMJ, he looked at me as though I was going totally out of line,” Shankar told the French bearded-bald-headed Ghosh. “I called up James Murdoch and told him about the risk associated with SMJ because of the investment and he told me ‘we would live.’ I needed his blessings to go ahead with it.”

     

    Shankar informed Ghosh that he had met up with Aamir Khan to understand how they could use the power of television and work together to improve society after he did 3 Idiots. “It took two years of his team and our team working together to come up with Satyamev Jayate,” he said. “We thought of taking all the challenging issues like female feticide, and so on a Sunday morning. That was a challenge – to get viewers on-board to watch the show at that time slot. It was of a duration of an hour and a half to do a very, very deep dive into some of the very unpleasant parts of Indian life. Everything about the show suggests that it shouldn’t work. Aamir and I spent a lot of time discussing this and finally we concluded that we are not going to pull our punches neither in the creative expression nor in the format.”

     

    Shankar thought the brand had to mature and take a big leap. And that big leap came with SMJ.

     

    “Satyamev Jayate was the beginning of a journey. In the journey of our purpose we wanted the brand to carry, it had matured to a level where we wanted to make that one big leap and tell people that ok we have been looking intently to implementing stories and characters and we have been giving you messages, subtle messages. India was ready, our viewers were ready and internally Star as a company was ready to take the leap and that’s how came SMJ where we decided that sharply we will, in each episode, focus on some of the things that must change in the country while all other kinds of economic and social changes keep happening. I wouldn’t say that we have taken our corporate social responsibility seriously. At Star, we have now gone a step ahead and we believe that all content that we create is corporate social responsibility,” he said.

     

    Shankar narrated that he had had a meeting with the Minister for Corporate Affairs when the new Companies Act in India was being drafted. “They needed inputs. They were saying that a certain fix percentage of profits should go towards CSR and I said well I am fine to do that, but you must make a note that all media content if it goes on-air is towards corporate social responsibility. If it’s not, then we as media community have failed.”

     

    Shankar told Ghosh that SMJ has had its impact on Indian society. “The sex ratio in India has been under pressure and declining. The gap between female and male kids has been rising. For the first time in 40 years, in the state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is, it was reversed by a factor of 24 for each thousand. The state health minister publicly went and acknowledged that every single policy and intervention remained the same. The only external stimulus that had come in was SMJ’s episode on female foeticide and he said his officers felt that it was SMJ that gave women the confidence to resist abortion.”

     

    Shankar opined that the SMJ episode on drugs led to three or four governments passing legislations and orders to make sure government hospitals only supply generic drugs. “We are still fighting with the pharmaceutical industry on that episode where we said that labeling of drugs was just an exercise to raise drug prices. If generic drugs were sold and encouraged by governments then prices would come down substantially,” he said.

     

    Then he disclosed that four states have gone and set up fast track courts for rape victims following an episode which highlighted and demanded the need for this. “We wanted fast track courts,” said Shankar, “because the Indian judicial system can sometimes be very slow and rape victims were struggling with the time it took to get justice. And we got a response from some state governments.”

     

    He pointed out that it was strange that while initially there was a lot of interest in the region for SMJ after it was aired, its format has so far been licensed to a production house in China.

     

    On the programming front Shankar revealed that Star does do a lot of market research, but it is not a market research driven company, he explained to Ghosh.  “I see Star as a company which is very focused on observing society and whatever is happening. So if a political movement is going on, if there are concerns that are being expressed informally, then often times the research insights do not really capture them. But we also try and anticipate. We are at a level where we try and stay ahead of those concerns, so meaning that when you are in the business of media, you should be shaping the concerns, you should be voicing and helping people connect their dots to themselves and whether these are dots of aspirations or these are dots of concerns that are holding their aspirations.”

     

    He further stated that, television, print, and media in general are heavily encouraging, motivating and proselytizing agencies. He believes that the new Modi-led government is very focused and has the highest representation of women ministers, compared to any government since independence and that is a good thing. “30 per cent of the cabinet ministers are women, so we think this by itself should give an impetus to the whole process of change. Television I think can do a great deal, more than it is doing even now,” he ended.

  • News Corp completes take over of Dow Jones

    MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has completed the $5 billion acquisition of Dow Jones, including its flagship Wall Street Journal.

    The takeover will give News Corp. control of a news brand. It opens up opportunities to use Dow Jones’ financial news to feed the Murdoch empire’s global businesses, including major growth markets like Asia.

    The News Corporation also bought ads to appear in newspapers around the world on Friday, including The New York Times, to trumpet the acquisition of Dow Jones. The version appearing in The Times covers three full pages, and begins with the words “Free people/Free markets/Free thinking” – a tweaking of the Journal editorial page’s guiding philosophy, “Free markets, free people.”

    For the first three quarters of 2007, Dow Jones revenue was up 1.8 per cent when adjusted for recent acquisitions to $1.53 billion. Operating income on that basis excluding special items was up 58.3 per cent at the same $104.6 million reported for all of 2006.

  • Zee rejig to improve bottomline: Chandra

    Zee rejig to improve bottomline: Chandra

    NEW DELHI: Subhash Chandra, chairman of the approximately Rs. 13 billion Zee Telefilms, feels that after the restructuring announced Wednesday, the company’s bottomline would be “healthier”, though top line growth might be cropped as loss making businesses have been hived off into separate companies.

    Talking to CNBC TV18, Chandra also said that the news operations and the regional channels, which were hived off into Zee News Ltd, will be profitable with a turnover of Rs 3 billion.

    The cable TV distribution business of Siti Cable (again hived off into WWIL) will be a no-profit-no-loss venture that generates revenues of Rs 1 billion at the moment.

    “They (Zee News and cable business company WWIL), will be profitable. The quarter results of these entities will come out on 28 April, along with the consolidated results.

    “WWIL may not be profitable, but there will not be any losses. I think the revenue line for WWIL would be about Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) at the moment,” Chandra explained.

    Yesterday, Zee Telefilms, India’s largest vertically integrated media company, announced splitting of its broadcasting business into three entities — news operations and regional language operations (Zee News Ltd), broadcast and content creation, and Siti Cable, which will also include the initiatives on the CAS front (Wire and Wireless India Limited or WWIL).

    The direct consumer related business of ZTL and Dish TV, the country’s first private sector DTH service, have also been separated and subsumed into ASC Enterprise Ltd, which is the DTH licence holder.

    According to Chandra, foreign investors have evinced interest in the cable and DTH business of the group.

    “We are being approached a lot for cable and Dish TV (country’s first private direct-to-home service) businesses. However, not as many for the entertainment or the news content business. But we are open for those also,” he added.

    Pointing out that the Dish TV operation is likely to be listed on the stock exchanges within a few weeks’ time, Chandra said, “Recently, because of this restructuring process they (Dish TV) amended their business model as well, which should be a very aggressive business model. So we haven’t been able to do the valuation of these different assets sitting in different entities like Zee Telefilms and ASCEL yet.”

    Dish TV’s operations are managed by Entertainment Era Network Ltd, while Zee Telefilms has a content supply deal with it. Once the regulatory and other permissions come through, the DTH business will be consolidated under “Dish TV Ltd or something (on those lines),” Chandra said.
    Asked about the equity base of the two new proposed companies, Chandra said that while that of Zee Telefilms Limited will remain unchanged at Rs 410 million, that of Zee News Limited will be approximately Rs 250 million.

    The equity base of the cable business under WWIL will be about Rs 250 million, says the man who has built up a business empire ranging from real estate to media to packaging after starting out exporting rice to the erstwhile USSR in the 1970s under the Essel brand name.

    Dwelling on the valuation of the cable business being carried out under Siti Cable, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Zee Tele, Chandra said, the value of Siti Cable ought to be in the region of $ 800- $ 900 million.

    Zee Telefilms, according to Chandra, bought back 50 per cent of Siti Cable from News Corporation in 1999-2000 at a valuation of Rs 15 billion.

    “Subsequently it (Siti Cable) was valued at Rs 2500 crore (Rs 25 billion). We are getting paid for about a million homes (now). So, if you take 1 million homes’ valuation at $ 500 per subscriber, that is $ 500 million plus if you take the rest of 5.8 million (subscribers) even at $ 50 valuation. So that makes this entity at about $ 800-900 million.on Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) equity basis, but the investment was of about Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) in this business,” Chandra explained.

    Asked about the prospects of Zee Sports, Chandra said as a corporate entity and business Zee Telefilms would be left with the sports channel after the restructuring is completed.

    Pointing out that Zee Sports is “still at a developmental stage,” Chandra said, “I will not call that a loss making entity. There are investments in it. Other than that, all the businesses are profitable in ZTL. The new start-ups of regional channels in Telugu, Kannada, etc are all a part of Zee News Ltd now.”

    The Zee Telefilms scrip closed on the Bombay Stock Exchange at Rs 242.50 after opening the day at Rs 239.55.