ITV

Tag: Zee 24 Taas

  • Slowdown halts Zee News Ltd’s expansion plans

    Slowdown halts Zee News Ltd’s expansion plans

    MUMBAI: Television news broadcaster Zee News Ltd (ZNL) has halted its expansion plans due to a slowdown in the economy.

    After demerging from Zee’s entertainment broadcasting business, ZNL had chalked out a plan for more channel launches after spending a year in consolidating its operations.

    “Our focus last year was on consolidation. But for the slowdown, we would have expanded our bouquet this year,” said Zee News Ltd chief executive officer Barun Das in an interview with Indiantelevision.com. 
       
    News broadcasters will have to increase their fleet of channels if they have to scale up their revenues. “It is difficult for established existing channels to post ad revenue growth beyond 10 per cent. Expanding the bouquet and strengthening it is key to a TV news broadcaster’s growth strategy,” said Das.

    ZNL is looking at launching regional news channels but an English general news channel is also on the cards. “It would preferably be regional news channels first but we have not ruled out an English news channel. It all depends on the fund position and the extent of the slowdown. When we are looking at growth, we can’t take the market for granted anymore,” averred Das.

    ZNL is looking at posting a revenue of over Rs 3 billion this fiscal even as it forecasts a sluggish growth for the industry in the next two quarters. The company had reported a revenue of Rs 1.43 billion for the six-month period ended September 2011.

    “The next two quarters are not going to be easy. But we expect to outgrow the market by at least 5 per cent,” said Das.

    ZNL owns and operates seven channels including Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Punjabi, 24 Ghanta, Zee 24 Ghantalu and Zee News UP.

  • Zee News Ltd posts 19.5% ad rev growth in shaky environment

    Zee News Ltd posts 19.5% ad rev growth in shaky environment

    MUMBAI: Zee News Ltd (ZNL) has posted second-quarter advertising revenue growth of 19.5 per cent but has cautioned that the economic environment is still shaky and could turn worse after the festive spending is over.

    The television news broadcasting company‘s ad revenue for the three-month period ended September stood at Rs 486.5 million compared to Rs 407.2 million a year ago, constituting 61.5 per cent of its total revenue.  
         
      “Given the current market conditions, we have done well. News channels had a dismal second quarter last year and this time the festive season has advanced. Going forward, the ad scenario looks bleak. But we are preparing ourselves for the impending recession and will come out with innovative solutions. Even during the thick of the recession in 2008, we did better than the industry. We expect to outgrow the market by 5-10 per cent,” Zee News Ltd chief executive officer Barun Das told Indiantelevision.com.

    ZNL‘s subscription revenue has de-grown during the quarter due to the transition to Media Pro, a distribution company formed by Star Den and Zee Turner, but would look up in the subsequent quarters. Pay-TV revenues stood at Rs 160.1 million, down 17.5 per cent from the year-ago quarter.

    “The subscription revenue figures showed degrowth as they have been booked net of expenses. This change has been necessitated due to the formation of Media Pro, which pays subscription revenues to Zee, net of expenses. But as things settle down, we should be seeing a growth of 10 per cent in our subscription income,” Das averred. 

    Consolidated net profit stood at Rs 34.82 million compared to Rs 2.24 million a year ago.

    Ebitda was at Rs 85.1 million, up 21.2 per cent from Rs 70.2 million.

    ZNL‘s revenue jumped 28.5 per cent to Rs 791.3 million. This included a one-time transaction of sale of programmes and film rights from Zee Tamil to Zee Wntertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) of Rs 124.2 million. Without this, ZNL‘s revenue would have grown by eight per cent over the year-ago period.

    “The sale will also be captured in the next two quarters of the fiscal,” said Das.

    Operating expenses rose 29.4 per cent to Rs 706.2 million. ZNL said that subsequent to Zee Tamil discontinuance, the company transferred part of inventory of programmes and films related to Zee Tamil. Accordingly, Other Sales & Services as well as Cost of Goods & Operations are higher by this amount.

    The existing news channels (Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Punjabi and 24 Ghanta) reported Ebitda of Rs 146 million, while Ebitda loss from the new channels was at Rs 60.9 million.
      

  • A repeat show for IBN Lokmat as Q1 net loss stands at Rs 40 million

    A repeat show for IBN Lokmat as Q1 net loss stands at Rs 40 million

    MUMBAI: IBN Lokmat, the joint venture company that runs the Marathi news channel, is still bleeding as its revenue stays flat even after completing three years of operations.

    The company has posted a net loss of Rs 40 million for the first quarter of the fiscal, similar to what it had registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. In the trailing quarter, however, IBN Lokmat had reported a net loss of Rs 60 million.

    The main problem area for IBN Lokmat is that in a market which has two strong players – Zee 24 Taas and Star Majha- the channel’s revenue seems to have hit a ceiling while it has failed to curb expenses.

    Revenue for the quarter ended 30 June stood at Rs 40 million, same as the year-ago period. In the trailing quarter, revenue was Rs 30 million.

    IBN Lokmat’s quarter expenses stood at Rs 70 million, up from Rs 60 million the company incurred in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. In the trailing quarter, expenses were at Rs 80 mllion.

    The channel’s Ebitda loss remained at Rs 30 million, same as the year-ago period, but less than the trailing quarter (Rs 60 million).

    IBN Lokmat was launched in March 2008 as a joint venture between Network18 Group and Lokmat.

  • Zee News Q1 net drops 7.8% on weaker ad rev

    Zee News Q1 net drops 7.8% on weaker ad rev

    MUMBAI: Zee News Ltd (ZNL) has reported a 7.8 per cent fall in consolidated net profit for the fiscal first-quarter, hurt by a dip in advertising revenue as the cricket World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) attracted advertisers.

    The net profit for the three months ended June 2011 stood at Rs 50.9 million, pulled down by a 3.5 per cent drop in advertising revenue as many product categories that advertise on the news channels went through a slowdown phase. The slide was somewhat halted by a control in expenses.

    Said ZNL managing director Punit Goenka, “The new financial year has started slowly, but considering that the industry de-grew, ZNL has done well to match up with Q1 FY11. Incidentally, ZNL had an exceptionally good Q1 in the last year. In this quarter, the monies got diverted to sporting events, thereby upsetting budgets for other genres including news. We had anticipated this slowdown and had planned accordingly.”

    Operating revenue declined 1.8 per cent to Rs 636.6 million from Rs 648.5 million a year ago.

    Expenses also fell 1.3 per cent to Rs 560 million, compared with Rs 567.3 million in the earlier year. Ebitda for the first quarter stood at Rs 76.6 million, 5.8 per cent down from Rs 81.2 million.

    Said ZNL CEO Barun Das, “While ZNL experienced some slowdown in revenues due to some critical spending product categories being under the weather, our cost effectiveness stood us in better stead compared to the industry in terms of healthy balance sheet.”

     
      ZNL‘s advertising revenue fell to Rs 436.4 million, as against Rs 452.2 million.

    Among the expenses, the cost of goods and operations and other expenses fell. However, it was offset by a 14.7 per cent rise in the employee cost.

    ZNL posted Ebitda profit of Rs 139 million from its existing business (Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Punjabi and 24 Ghanta). However, in the earlier year, Ebitda was stronger at Rs 208.3 million.

    The company, however, managed to narrow the Ebitda loss from its new businesses (Zee 24 Ghantalu, Zee News UP) to Rs 62.5 million. This was mainly because of discontinuation of Zee Tamil on 31 March 2011. In the year-ago period, the Ebitda loss from the new business was Rs 127.1 million.

    The company, however, expects the environment for revenue from the news business to improve. Said Goenka, “Going forward, the news genre looks likely to recover traction with eclectic properties that would be seen as viable spending options. In the meantime, the company recently has adopted a new identity infusing freshness in its look and the market has responded enthusiastically to it.”

  • Zee News Q4 net up 221% at Rs 66.5 mn

    Zee News Q4 net up 221% at Rs 66.5 mn

    MUMBAI: Zee News Limited (ZNL) has posted a consolidated net profit (after minority interest) of Rs 66.48 million for the quarter ended 31 March, a 221 per cent jump over the year-ago period.

    The company had posted a net profit of Rs 20.70 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

    ZNL’s total consolidated revenues for the three-month period stood at Rs 759.7 million, up 26.5 per cent, compared to Rs 600.6 million in the fourth-quarter of previous fiscal.

    Meanwhile, expenses also jumped 10.7 per cent to Rs 621.7 million, from Rs 561.8 million a year ago.

    Profit before tax for the quarter stood at Rs 128.2 million, up from Rs21.8 million in the year-ago period.

    ZNL posted Ebitda profit of Rs 247.8 million (Rs 105.7 million in previous year quarter) from its existing business (Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Punjabi and 24 Ghanta). However, its Ebitda loss from new business (Zee Tamizh, Zee 24 Ghantalu and Zee News UP) widened to Rs 109.8 million from Rs 66.9million (from loss of Rs 116.5 million).

    Meanwhile, for the full fiscal ended 31 March, the company has posted a net profit of Rs 163.67 million, down from Rs 456.84 in the previous year. However, the company clarified that in view of the demerger of regional general entertainment channels with effect from the appointed date of 1 January 2010 from ZNL to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), numbers for the full year are not comparable with the previous year numbers.

    Revenue from the fiscal stood at Rs 2.77 billion (from Rs 5.29 billion), while expenses were at Rs 2.34 billion (from Rs 4.38 billion). Ebitda profit from existing business was at Rs 868 million (Rs 1.33 billion in previous year) while Ebitda loss from new business was Rs 444 million, down from 427.2 million.

    ZNL chairman Subhash Chandra said, “The network has outperformed competition when assessed as a business unit by posting profits in not a very favourable scenario. In retrospect, we can safely affirm that our decision to consolidate the news business and focus on regional markets has yielded positive results.”

    ZNL CEO Barun Das added, “Our focus on current deliverables even while we cement our long term strategy has ensured that we have closed another year on a positive note. The upbeat results are reflective of all-round performance, with every channel making a contribution. Advertising and subscription have continued to grow and further digitalization will only augment our position. Our ability to reinvent ourselves as per the changing dynamics and sensitivity to the need of the serious news viewers appear to have been instrumental in our success in this quarter as well as the year.”

  • Marathi new channels have potential to grow

    Marathi new channels have potential to grow

    NEW DELHI: Even if Marathi viewers understand Hindi with equal ease, the future is bright for Marathi TV news channels. And the reason behind this is that Hindi news channels fail to meet the needs of a Marathi viewer.

    Marathi TV news editors believe that viewers of Maharashtra have an appetite for hard news, which the national news channels lag behind in the state.

    Talking at the 4th News Television Summit, Star Majha editorial head Rajiv Khandekar and IBN Lokmat News editor Mandar Phanse agreed that the sensational and trivial content served by Hindi news channels is not digested by the Marathi viewer.
         
      Khandekar started the discussion saying that all the three 24-hour Marathi news channels – Star Majha, IBN Lokmat and Zee 24 Taas – strictly adhere to “news and meaningful programming”.

    “We don’t show bhoot-pret stuff on our channel, and neither sensationalise stories. Our programming also is focused on value addition, in terms of education, religion etc,” Khandekar said.

    Phanse said Marathi news channels have to focus on politics and other issues. “There are so many issues within the state and we don’t need to drift focus. IBN Lokmat has made an impact with its programming.”

    Talking about the financial aspects and business model of the channels, both agreed that being a part of a group helped in many ways. They don’t need to spend much on carriage as they are part of the bouquet; they can also get the national and international feed easily and the wide network of bureaux helps in news gathering operations.

    Star Majha is a part of MCCS, which also operates Star News (Hindi) and Star Anand (Bangla). Zee 24 Taas, on the other hand, is part of Zee News Ltd, which has Hindi news channel Zee News and many regional language news channels. IBN Lokmat is a JV between Lokmat Group and IBN18, which runs CNN IBN and IBN7.

    Phanse and Khandekar said revenues were not accurately tapped as their channels lacked in proper marketing and promotions.

    “A properly marketed Marathi news channel can attain break-even in less than three years. But the problem is our channels are not marketed well,” Phanse agreed.

    When questioned about the scope for more news channels in the same space, Khandekar cited examples of local cable channels. “In towns like Sholapur and Kolhapur there are 24-hour cable news channels. Actually, Maharashtra is so diverse that there can be news channels for specific regions – Vidarbha, Marathwada and Nagpur – and all can flourish,” said Khandekar.

    Currently, apart from these three channels, public broadcaster DD Sahyadri, ETV Marathi, Saam Marathi and Mi Marathi telecast news capsules.

  • IBN Lokmat Q3 net loss at Rs 30 million

    IBN Lokmat Q3 net loss at Rs 30 million

    MUMBAI: IBN Lokmat continues to be in losses even as it is close to completing three years.

    A joint venture between IBN18 and Lokmat Group, the Marathi news channel has posted a net loss of Rs 30 million for the three-month period ended December 2010. IBN Lokmat had reported a net loss of Rs 40 million in the year-ago period and Rs 60 million in the trailing quarter.

    Revenue has gone up to Rs 50 million, up from Rs 40 million in the year-ago period, as it coincided with the festive season. In the trailing quarter, the company reported a revenue of Rs 30 million.  
         
    IBN Lokmat has not been able to limit quarter expenses, which are at Rs 70 million in the quarter. The figure was same in the year-ago period as well as in the trailing quarter.

    The channel, however, reduced its Ebitda loss to Rs 20 million from Rs 30 million in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal and Rs 40 million in the trailing quarter.

    IBN Lokmat was launched in March 2008 and faces tough competition from both Zee 24 Taas and Star Majha.
     

  • IBN Lokmat revenue stagnates, net loss widens

    IBN Lokmat revenue stagnates, net loss widens

    MUMBAI: Raghav Bahl is finding the regional language news space a tough nut to crack. Even after spending more than two years in the market, IBN Lokmat is in operating losses while revenue is showing signs of stagnating.

    Set up as the joint venture of IBN18 and Lokmat Group, the Marathi news channel has posted a net loss of Rs 60 million for the three-month period ended September 2010. IBN Lokmat had reported a net loss of Rs 50 million in the year-ago period and Rs 40 million in the trailing quarter.   
         
      Revenue has stagnated at Rs 30 million compared to the year-ago period. In the trailing quarter, the company reported a revenue of Rs 40 million.

    IBN Lokmat has not been able to limit quarter expenses, which are at Rs 70 million in the quarter (from Rs 60 million in earlier year).

    IBN Lokmat incurred an Ebitda loss of Rs 40 million in the fiscal‘s second quarter, higher than the earlier year period and trailing quarter (Rs 30 million).

    IBN Lokmat was launched in March 2008 and faces tough competition from both Zee 24 Taas and Star Majha.

  • Zee News Ltd Q2 net at Rs 2.2 mn on revenue of Rs 615.9 mn

    Zee News Ltd Q2 net at Rs 2.2 mn on revenue of Rs 615.9 mn

    MUMBAI: Zee News Ltd (ZNL) has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2.24 million (after minority interest) for the three-month period ending September on a revenue of Rs 615.87 million.

    The corresponding quarter a year ago had six regional general entertainment channels which powered a net profit of Rs 131.49 million for the second-quarter of FY‘10. Since 1 January 2010 the regional GECs have moved to group company Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.

    On sequential basis, ZNL had posted a net profit of Rs 33 million on a turnover of Rs 648.5 million in the fiscal first quarter.

    ZNL chairman Subhash Chandra said, “The company has utilised the last two quarters to consolidate its position post demerger, and is poised to expand from here. The balance sheet looks sanguinely healthy and advertising and subscription revenues have continued to grow. What is particularly heartening is that the company has managed to show robust growth at a time when most players in the industry have been facing degrowth.”

    Ebitda for the quarter under review stood at Rs 70.2 million and profit before tax at Rs 32.1 million.

    The trimmed down ZNL‘s advertising revenue grew 16.3 per cent over the year-ago period, while subscription revenue for the quarter was Rs 194.1, which constituted 31.5 per cent of the total revenue.

         
      The expenses of the company stood at Rs 545.7 million.

    ZNL posted Ebitda profit of Rs 186.8 million from its existing business (Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Punjabi and 24 Ghanta). The company, however, suffered Ebitda loss of Rs 116.5 million from its new business (Zee Tamizh, Zee 24 Ghantalu and Zee News UP).

    ZNL CEO Barun Das added, “Our performance in the second quarter of this fiscal reflects all round growth. All our existing channels continued to perform, while both the newly launched news channels are on path to meet their respective breakeven targets. Our focus to offer a bouquet of channels in national and vernacular languages has reaped rich dividends, giving us an edge over competition. Advertising revenues of 16.3 per cent would possibly standout as an exception in TV News industry. Moreover, our strategy to concentrate on the middle line besides top line has ensured that the company remains in fine fettle. Usually Q2 is the slowest quarter in terms of advertising revenue. Despite that, we are pleased to post a healthy Ebitda. In this context, the buoyant figures in Q2 set the pace for an even more successful Q3.”

  • Zee 24 Taas to dawn new look from 1 January

    Zee 24 Taas to dawn new look from 1 January

    MUMBAI: Zee 24 Taas, the first 24–hour Marathi news channel, will be dawning a new look from 1 January 2010. With a new logo and positioning – Ek Paul Pudhe (One Step Ahead) – the channel will have a different feel and format.

    The channel claims that the new programming will explore new frontiers in Marathi news genre.

    “Zee 24 Taas also tries to make a statement through its new positioning, which is aligned with the channel’s effort to always be ahead of others when it comes to delivering quality news content to Marathi viewers across Maharashtra,” it said in a statement.

    The change comprises a new logo, new positioning, new channel-id, new graphics (header, ticker) new studio backdrop and new costumes.

    A Zee 24 Taas re-launch film of 60 seconds would be running from 1 January on 24 Taas and on other network channels like Zee Marathi and Zee Talkies. The film depicts the inspirational and aspirational aspect of a common man, which he seeks in idolising great personalities.

    The film’s music has been composed by Taufiq Qureshi, son and disciple of Ustad Allarakha and brother of Ustad Zakir Hussain.

    The new programming on the channel includes bulletins like 24 Taas 24 Batmya (24 hours 24 news), Khabar Udyachi (Tomorrow’s newspaper), Zara Hatke (off beat news), Non-stop news (news without break), Aradhana (religious program) and Around the World.