TV18 Broadcast Limited announced its results for the quarter that ended on 30th June 2021. The company reported robust growth, the consolidated revenues were up 49 percent to Rs 1155 crore compared to the corresponding quarter last year, and consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) was up 323 percent to Rs 188 crore year-on-year. The Consolidated revenue excluding films rose 49% year-on-year.
“Concerted thrust on continuity of original content and monetization limited ad revenue impact from the second wave,” the company stated. Despite the Covid impact, the Operating margin in the entertainment segment stood at 17 percent, and the revenues excluding the film business were up 63 percent year-on-year. News margin stood at 15 percent, and revenues were up by 17 percent year on year.
“Entertainment advertising was impacted by the second wave, as ad demand dipped in May-early June due to lockdowns. However, original content production and telecasts were continued by tackling lockdown-driven logistical challenges through bio-bubbles, shifting shooting locations, and other innovative/agile solutions. On the back of a full roster of compelling content, our portfolio was able to re-scale ad-revenue to the same levels as in Q1FY20 (which was not impacted by COVID 19 in any manner),” the company said in a statement.
“TV News advertising remained resilient despite the second wave, led by a rise in news consumption and digital events replacing physical ones. As a result, our TV News ad revenue remained in growth territory vs Q1FY20, adjusted for election-linked advertising,” the statement further added.
The subscription revenue grew 4% year on year.
“Domestic subscription revenue continued to grow led by expanded tie-ups in TV and Digital (both B2B and B2C). The international subscription remains under stress. While Digital is rising fast off a low base, TV remained resilient and in growth territory. ⮚ Domestic TV subscription dynamics remain in flux due to the proposed new tariff order (NTO 2.0),” stated the company.
News genre viewership jumped 28% QoQ led by the second wave and multiple state and elections. The salience and resilience of our fully-pay news network shone through. Entertainment viewership also grew 8% QoQ, some of which was contributed by sports. Pay-GEC viewership also grew in single digits across Hindi and Regional, as original programming continued unabated to a large extent. Our share of TV entertainment rose further to 11%, up sharply from a low of 9.2% in Q1FY21.
Commenting on the company/s performance Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman of TV18, said: “The second wave of COVID-19 could have been the dominant theme for the industry and indeed for us during the quarter….but it wasn’t. Led by the many learnings from the past year and a responsibility to serve the Indian audience, we have continued our businesses relentlessly and profitably. While advertising hit a speed-breaker (primarily in entertainment), growing engagement on our platforms across TV and Digital make us confident of delivering for all our stakeholders even amidst a choppy environment. We continue to invest in ramping up offerings on our class-leading digital platforms. At the same time, we are selectively creating segmented offerings to enhance our TV portfolio in a capital-efficient manner.”
