Network 18 Media & Investments has reported a 30.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in consolidate revenue to Rs 1,387.2 crore for the quarter ended in September 30, driven by strong viewership. The revenue was Rs 1,061 crore for same quarter last fiscal. The consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) jumped 52.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 252.3 crore. The operating margin at also grew 18.2 per cent during the quarter under review. “Both News and entertainment businesses further improved profitability,” the company said in a statement.
Revenue from entertainment (ex-film) was up 31 per cent year-on-year and margin stood at 19 per cent. Revenue from news increased 18 per cent YoY and margin recorded at 18 per cent in Q2.
TV entertainment network reached its highest viewership share during the September quarter.”With strong performance in Hindi and select regional markets, share of our entertainment portfolio rose 90bps QoQ to 11.8 per cent, highest ever in the last 7 years. This was despite a marginal decline in the entertainment and overall TV viewership, which has now settled at the pre-COVID levels,” the company said in a statement.
Network18 digital now reaches 230 million unique visitors every month, making it one of the highest reach digital news/information portfolio in the country. “Digital news continues to grow revenue and improve margins; revenue rose 55 per cent YoY and margins at 17 per cent,” the company said.”With one of the biggest portfolio of digital news platforms spanning languages and genres, the business is well poised to gain from rising consumption on digital platforms,” the media giant mentioned.
On digital streaming services, Voot’s subscriber base witnessed a sharp jump during the quarter, thanks to Bigg Boss OTT, the first marquee property to go digital exclusive. Voot was the fastest OTT in India to reach 1 million B2C subscribers. The platform has also been evolving as a sports destination with streaming of three major football leagues and a host of other sports properties.
Commenting on the result, Adil Zainulbhai, chairman of Network18, said, “The way the country came out of the grip of second wave of COVID was truly heartening, and equally reassuring was the full-swing return of economic growth. 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.”
Profit after tax rose to Rs 200 crore, driven by improved revenue performance, controlled opex and lower finance costs.
Disclaimer: Network18 and TV18 – the companies that operate news18.com – are controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
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