NDTV special weekend sponsored programming and cost cutting measures offset impact of lower advertising revenue

New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) on Wednesday in a BSE filing that stated that the impact of lower advertising revenue due to COVID-19 had been offset by the cost cutting measures implemented by the company and its special weekend sponsored programming that has been newly introduced by NDTV. The filing came in response to the SEBI circular on disclosure of material impact on listed companies due to COVID-19.

The company said that it had followed the MHA guidelines on lockdown with only 35% staff physically present at the locations. It noted that the advertising has been adversely impacted for all media companies with marketing budgets suspended by manufacturers as well as the services industry.

NDTV stated that in line with the company’s responsibility to the stakeholders, it has been implemented a cost cutting measure straight away. The pay cut ranges from 10%-40% with those at the lower end to the pay scale seeing smaller pay cuts. NDTV is set to review the situation at the end of Q1. NDTV has also availed moratorium on loans and interest payments to help with the cash flow.

NDTV in its BSE filing further stated, ¨It is too early to assess the financial impact of the pandemic on the Company’s earnings and profitability for the rest of the year. Cost-cutting measures implemented by the Company have partially offset the impact of lower advertising revenue as has special weekend sponsored programming that has been newly introduced by the Company.¨

It further stated that the impact on projected profitability was hard to predict as it is not clear as to when the impact of the pandemic, or the pandemic itself will ease in India with the economy reviving in response to Government introduced measures.