Mumbai: Leading MSO DEN Networks has reported better profit margins for the three months ended September with an increase of Rs 7.3 Cr in its subscription revenue to Rs 178 Cr. This is due to its ability to keep a control on payments made to broadcasters like Star, Zee and Sony.
The numbers for the July-September quarter reveals that DEN Networks is starting to get to grips with the NTO despite its volatility in the initial stage of implementation. The situation of DPOs are expected to improve further once TRAI puts in some tweaks to the tariff order after the conclusion of the consultation process to review NTO, while Broadcasters are voluntarily slashing their subscription rates of a-la-cart channels under the pretext of festive season offers.
For the July-September quarter, Den Networks reported an increase of Rs 7.3 Cr in its subscription, in normally circumstances the same would have entailed a similar increase in the payout made to pay channel broadcasters, in this case, the pay channel payout remained unchanged at Rs 159 cr.
DEN’s pay-channel costs — which had been in the Rs 150 cr range — had fallen to just Rs 126 Cr in the January-March period as most subscribers did not or could not activate pay channels immediately after the new tariff order came into effect.
The company’s success in keeping content costs flat in the latest quarter helped it report aR s 7 Cr improvement in its operating profit due to the higher subscriber revenue.
DEN was able to post operating profits of Rs 48 Cr for July-September, up from Rs 41 Cr in the three months prior. However, the company has not revealed the exact source of the increased subscription revenue in July-September clear.
