ITV

Tag: subscription revenues

  • Dish TV India focused on repayment of debt in Q2 FY22

    Dish TV India focused on repayment of debt in Q2 FY22

    Mumbai: Dish TV India has reported its second quarter results for FY 2022. The company reported consolidated subscription revenues of Rs 6445 million and operating revenues of Rs 7181 million. It reported subscription revenues of Rs 6659 million and operating revenues Rs 7310 million in the previous quarter.

    The company has tapered down its debt to Rs 5566 million while adding more than 0.6 million subscribers at the gross level. At a net level though, it recorded negative additions prioritising repayment of debt over adding fresh subscribers. Dish TV India repaid debt of Rs 697 million during the quarter to arrive at a closing debt of Rs 5566 million.

    “It was business as usual at India’s leading DTH Company despite some chaotic developments on the corporate front towards the end of the quarter,” the company noted. It is referring to its boardroom battle with shareholder Yes Bank on the issue of reconstitution of the board.

    Retention and upgradation focused campaigns continued in line with the objective of increasing the lifetime value of subscribers. Furthermore, to increase stickiness, ‘Watcho’- the in-house OTT app of the company was loaded with freshly curated content. The platform debuted several new web series to further enhance the complimentary bouquet of offerings for Dish TV India subscribers. ‘Watcho’ continued to gain strength as an OTT platform with a strong semi-urban presence in addition to significant tier-1 visibility. The app has recorded total cumulative downloads of 36 million so far.

    “We continue to remain focused in our efforts to drive business performance using tools that enhance the viewing experience of subscribers on both, the traditional as well as the OTT offering,” said Dish TV India group chief executive officer Anil Dua. “We remain sensitive to changing consumer needs and look forward to new launches and a wider audience base.”

    During the quarter, Dish TV announced the launch of its ‘QR Scan Feature.’ The scan to pay feature aims at giving customers a hassle-free single click payment experience when it comes to recharging their Dish TV account or paying utility bills. Dish TV and d2h subscribers will now be able to pay their bills in a few simple steps by scanning the QR code on the company’s websites, www.dishtv.in and www.d2h.com using any UPI app or wallet. UPI is currently the easiest and the most secure way of digital payments owing to its multifactor authentication which requires the users to verify themselves via multiple sources.

    The onset of the festival period towards the end of the second quarter along with some normalization in consumer spending post the second wave of the pandemic encouraged the launch of customised new offerings for existing as well as new subscribers. Dish TV India launched a special ‘Get 1 for 5 Recharge Offer’ as per which a complimentary month of subscription was provided for every five months of recharge. In addition, a ‘Lucky Recharge Offer’ wherein customers could avail up to 100 per cent cashback on recharge of Rs 501 was also launched.

    “Household spending however did not fully recover during the quarter and despite a fairly extensive sports calendar, recharges were not in line with earlier years. Both, streaming platforms as well as Free Dish, continued to give competition to conventional distributors with some of the DTH subscribers at the upper end exploring OTT services while those at the lower end sampling Free Dish services,” said the company.

    Operating revenues for the quarter were Rs 7181 million. EBITDA was Rs 4270 million. EBITDA margin was at 59.4 per cent. Profit before tax for the quarter was Rs 553 million. Net profit for the quarter was Rs 354 million.

    “Consumers typically tend to step up spending during festivals and the festive season traditionally accounts for majority of the annual revenues of the company. Upbeat consumer spending is expected during the festival quarter this year compared to the same quarter last year,” said the company in a statement.

    NTO 2.0

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recently extended the deadline for enforcing the new tariff order (NTO) 2.0 by announcing an execution plan for migrating subscribers to the new regime. Trai directed distribution platforms to ensure that subscribers avail of pay-tv services as per NTO 2.0 norms with effect from 1 April 2022, moving the earlier 1 December 2021 deadline. While distribution platforms like DTH and cable will have to seek subscriber choice till 31 March, broadcasters will have to submit the required information to Trai by 31 December.

    Several broadcasters had earlier challenged the NTO 2.0 in various high courts. However, in an order passed on 30 June, the Bombay high court had upheld the validity of NTO 2.0, except the second proviso to the twin conditions which stated that the a-la-carte rates of each pay channel (MRP) forming part of a bouquet shall in no case exceed three times the average rate of a pay channel of the bouquet of which such pay channel is a part.

    Broadcasters had then approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay high court order. The Supreme Court is yet to announce its decision.

    “We would be watching the developments on the litigation front for now while simultaneously acting towards implementation of the order,” said Dish TV India chairman and managing director Jawahar Goel.

  • Zee, Turner to work independently for subscription revenue

    Zee, Turner to work independently for subscription revenue

    MUMBAI: After nearly two decades of successful collaboration, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) and Turner International (Turner) have mutually decided to work independently in order to drive up subscription revenue. ZEE and Turner joined hands back in 2002 to manage distribution and trade marketing for a bouquet of channels in India.

    A release issued jointly stated: “As both parties continue to explore avenues for growth, we jointly take this opportunity to thank our value chain partners to have supported us through our journey.”

    ZEE has presence in over 173 countries and a reach of more than 1.4 billion people around the globe. The media conglomerate is among the largest global content companies across genres, languages and platforms. With its new brand ideology and purpose, ZEE aspires to provide a unified brand experience to consumers across the world by creating extraordinary entertainment and experiences.

    Turner Asia Pacific is the parent company of Turner International India, which operates 63 channels in 13 languages in 37 countries in the region.

  • Q1-2016: Sun TV results sunny; PAT up 19%; ad revenue up 16%

    Q1-2016: Sun TV results sunny; PAT up 19%; ad revenue up 16%

    BENGALURU: Despite being in trouble recently with the Ministry of Home Affairs over security clearance for its channels, the Marans’ media behemoth Sun TV Network Limited (Sun TV) reported 9.1 per cent growth in standalone revenue (Total income from operations or TIO) in Q1-2016 (quarter ended 01 June, 2015) at Rs 691.09 crore as compared to the Rs 633.58 crore in Q1-2015 and 26 per cent more than the Rs 548.58 crore in Q4-2015. The company’s advertisement revenue in the current quarter increased 16 per cent to Rs 323.89 crores.

     

    The company reported 19.1 per cent higher profit after tax (PAT) in the current quarter at Rs 197.28 crore (28.5 per cent margin) as compared to the Rs 165.64 crore (26.1 per cent margin ) in the corresponding year ago quarter. PAT in the immediate trailing quarter (Q4-2015) was 2.8 per cent higher than Q1-2016 at Rs 202.99 crore (37 per cent PAT margin)

     

    PAT in Q1-2016 would have been higher, but for the operating loss of Rs 56.61 crore by the company’s IPL franchisee SunRisers Hyderabad in the current quarter. The company’s Broadcasting segment reported EBIDTA of Rs 465.77 crore (78.3 per cent margin) on revenue of Rs 594.54 crore in Q1-2016. The company’s EBIDTA was Rs 409.61 crore (59.21 margin) because of the negative EBIDTA by Sun TV’s SunRisers segment.

     

    Note: 100,00,000 = 100 Lakhs = 10 million = 1 crore

     

    All figures in this report are standalone.

     

    The company’s subscription revenues continued to grow with cable TV revenue growing q-o-q by about 13 per cent and DTH revenue growing q-o-q by nine per cent. 

     

    The board of directors of the company has declared an interim dividend of Rs 6 (120 per cent) per equity share of face value Rs 5 per equity share.

     

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Sun TV

     

    Sun TV’s total expenses (TE) in the current quarter at Rs 412.10 crore (59.6 per cent of TIO) was 1.8 per cent more than the Rs 405.00 crore (63.9 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and 56.3 per cent more than the Rs 263.74 crore in Q4-2015.

     

    The company’s TE in Q1 includes IPL Franchisee of Rs 85.05 crore (12.3 per cent of TIO), which is a non-recurring item during the other three quarters of the year. Sun TV’s ‘Other Expenditure’ (OE) is a major expense head that has changed q-o-q by a huge margin. OE in Q1-2016 at Rs 91.65 crore (13.3 per cent of TIO) declined 1.8 per cent as compared to the Rs 93.33 crore (14.7 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015, but was more than three times (3.2 times) the Rs 28.26 crore (5.2 per cent of TIO) in Q4-2015.

     

    Sun TV’s Employee Benefit Expense (EBE) in Q1-2016 increased 19.1 per cent to Rs 54.51 crore (7.9 per cent of TIO) as compared to the Rs 45.77 crore (7.2 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and increased 4.5 per cent as compared to the Rs 52.16 crore (9.5 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.

  • Dish TV reports improved results for Q2-2014, pares debt by Rs 235 crore

    Dish TV reports improved results for Q2-2014, pares debt by Rs 235 crore

    BENGALURU: India’s largest DTH services provider Dish TV India (Dish TV) reported second quarter fiscal 2014 total income from operations at Rs 592.6 crore which was 11 per cent more than the Rs 533.6 crore for Q2-2013 and 2.5 per cent more than the Rs 578.4 crore for Q1-2014.

    When it announced Q1-2014 results, the company had said that it was planning to pare down debt by Rs 750 crore. To that extent, Dish TV has reported along with its Q2-2014 results that it has reduced debt by Rs 235 crore during the half year ended 30 September 2014. Its financial expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 34.5 crore was slightly lower (by 2.5 per cent) than the Rs 35.4 crore in Q1-2014. Its financial expense for Q2-2013 was Rs 31.7 crore.

    Let us look at other results for Q2-2014 reported by Dish TV

    The company has reported an increased EBIDTA margin of 25 per cent for Q2-2014 at Rs 147.9 crore as compared to Q1-2014 when Dish TV had reported EBIDTA of Rs 121.7 crore (22 per cent margin). Its EBIDTA for Q2-2013 was Rs 155.7 crore (29.2 per cent margin).

    The company reported a lower net loss of Rs 16 crore for Q2-2014 as compared to the loss of Rs 30.4 crore for Q1-2014. Exceptional gain at Rs 76.4 crore in Q2-2013 resulted in a PAT of Rs 55.1 crore for Q2-2013.

    Dish TV’s primary expenses include cost of goods and services, personnel cost, administrative cost, Dish TV’s advertising expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 11.3 crore was almost a third (36.8 per cent) of the Rs 30.7 crore in Q1-2014. Advertising expense in Q2-2013 was almost double at Rs 22.2 crore for Q2-2013.

    The company’s selling and distribution expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 62.4 crore was 19.5 per cent higher than the Rs 52.2 crore in Q2-2013 and 5.5 per cent more than the Rs 59.3 crore reported for Q1-2014.

    Dish TV reported 1.64 lakh additional subscriptions during Q2-2014 as compared to the 2 lakh new subscribers the company had reported for Q1-2013. Dish TV had said that it had added 4.77 lakh new subscribers in Q2-2013 and had achieved a gross of 1.39 crore and 1 crore net subscribers at the end of Q2-2013.

    Its subscriber acquisition cost (SAC) during Q2-2014 at Rs 1,849 per subscriber was 18.7 per cent lower than the Rs 2,273 per subscriber during Q2-2013, but about 1.1 per cent more than the Rs 1,828 SAC per customer for the immediate preceding quarter (Q1-2014).

    Subscription revenue for Q2-2014 at Rs 537 crore was higher by 13.6 per cent as compared to the Rs 477 crore for Q2-2013 and higher by 1.7 per cent as compared to the Rs 528 crore for Q1-2014. Its ARPU at Rs 165 remained the same for Q2-2014 and Q1-2014.

    Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel said, “We added 164 thousand net subscribers during the quarter and maintained our leadership share. Aided by quality additions, Dish TV’s churn remained at 0.6 per cent per month while SAC was flattish. This was despite the fact that being seasonally weak, the quarter witnessed brief periods of desperate attempts to undercut prices by select DTH platforms. Dish TV, aware of the subsequent fallout of throw away prices, chose not to jump on the bandwagon.”

    “With massive opportunity in the form of Phase III and IV of mandatory digitisation ahead, we are confident of acquiring industry leading incremental share while still keeping a tab on the subsidy per box. We continue to be conscious about self-funded growth with minimal debt on the books. In line with that, we repaid debt to the tune of Rs 235 crore in the first half and would be paying off the rupee equivalent of $ 9 crore in the second half of the current fiscal,” he added.
    “We are on track and look forward to acquiring additional transponder capacity to beef up our existing, industry leading bandwidth in the current fiscal. We intend to leverage the additional capacity to distribute localised content as well as strengthen carriage revenues. Moreover, with more than 60 per cent of the broadcasting industries subscription revenues coming from DTH alone, it is now time that the favourable terms, including carriage fees, extended to the MSO’s by the broadcasters be either revisited or offered to DTH platforms as well. This becomes all the more imperative considering that, in a digital environment, cable MSO’s are now almost there in terms of package wise billing in select 2-3 cities of Phase I & II,” said Goel further.