Network 18 subsidiary Television Eighteen Network (TV18 Network) on Thursday reported its quarterly financial report for the quarter ending March 31, 2020. TV18 reported a net profit of Rs 142 crores, down by 30.7% compared to Q3 FY 20 profit of Rs 205 crores.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is a major black-swan event, which has dragged the economy and the advertising environment as a result. The immediate impact on ad-driven media industry will be significant; however an increasing proportion of subscription revenues will help us pull through. Amid uncertain times, the strength of our brands and our class-leading content creation capabilities continues to shine through. We are proud of the coverage being provided by the News18 Network despite trying circumstances. The growth in media consumption witnessed augurs well for the future, as some of the increased engagement will be sticky even once the pandemic tapers off. We have stayed the course on our digital impetus and sharp focus on profitability.”
Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman TV18
Results Summary
- Total income at Rs 1429 crores in Q4 FY 20, up by 21% Y-o-Y
- Total expenses at Rs 1255 crores in Q4 FY 20
- Net profit of Rs 142 crores in Q4 FY 20
- EBIDTA of Rs 240 crores in Q4 FY 20, up by 365% Y-o-Y
- News18 revenue at Rs 301 crores in Q4 FY 20, up by 4% Y-o-Y
- Entertainment (Viacom18+AETN18+Indiacast) revenue at Rs 1,124 crores, up by 26% Y-o-Y
- News18 EBIDTA at Rs 35 crores in Q4 FY 20, up by 11% Y-o-Y
- Entertainment (Viacom18+AETN18+Indiacast) EBIDTA at Rs 206 crores, up by 901% Y-o-Y
Quarterly Highlights
- The benefits of a B2C regime created by the New Tariff Order (NTO) continued to accrue for the entire FY 20. Linear TV subscription grew at 41% in Q4 FY 20 with the contribution of subscription in revenue mix increasing to 35% in FY20, from 26% in FY19
- Ad-recovery in early Q4 upstaged by COVID-19 pandemic. Entertainment channels affected due to re-runs while Digital continue to benefit
- Advertising likely to remain suppressed in H1 FY 21. Policy interventions are expected to drive H2 towards normalcy
- Platform agnostic strategy is helping TV18 delivering profitability
- TV18’s Q4 average viewership share in News was 10.5%, up from 10.2% in Q3
- TV18 group’s Q4 entertainment viewership share was 9.9%, vs 10.1% last quarter
- Rs 13 crore investment in Voot Select, Voot Kids, Colors Kannada Cinema and Colors Gujarat Cinema
Business Performance
News – National & Regional
- TV18 News channels reached 557 million viewers in Q4
- CNBC TV18 had a share of 72% during market hours
- CNBC Awaaz led with 57.7% market share
- News18 India had an 11.3% market share in HSM
- CNN News18 garnered a 10.9% market share
- Regional News cluster reached 452 million viewers in Q4. News18 Rajasthan maintained leadership with a 54% share
Entertainment – National, Regional & Digital
- Colors had a 19.6% share among pay-GECs. Viewership across all GECs in Urban+Rural at 16.4%, up from 12.8% in Q3
- Colors Cineplex viewership share rose to 5.2% vs 4.7% in Q3
- Nick had a share of 19.8% in Kids genre with Sonic having a 10.5% share. 34% market share with Nick, Nick Jr, and Sonic.
- 67% market share in English entertainment genre
- MTV Beats had a share of 13.5%
- VOOT MAUs boosted to over 100 mn
- 25% share in Kannada GEC with Colors Super and Colors Kannada
- Colors Marathi viewership share at 25.4%
Infotainment – Factual entertainment & Lifestyle
- FYI TV18 market share rose to 56.3%
- History TV18 overall market share in the factual entertainment & lifestyle at 15.1%
