TV 18 consolidated operating revenues up by 13% for Q1, Fiscal 2016

TV18 Broadcasting Limited today announced its results for the quarter ended 30th June, 2015. Highlights of the un-audited financial results as compared to the previous year are –

Highlights of Operations

1. Operating revenues on a consolidated basis stood at Rs.596.7 crore in Q1 FY16, up by 13% YoY, from Rs.527.7 crore in Q1 FY15.
2. Operating PBDIT for Q1 FY16 stood at Rs.11.8 crore compared to Rs.47.7 crore in Q1 FY15.
3. ETV regional entertainment channels were successfully rebranded as Colors and the cost thereof has been expensed in the current quarter.
4. Compared to Q1 FY15, the current quarter includes expenses of the recently launched six regional news channels.
5. Q1 FY15 financial performance vis-à-vis Q1 FY16 was significantly influenced by advertisement income on account of the General Elections.

Business Highlights
Business News – CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC Bajar and CNBC-TV18 Prime HD
1. CNBC-TV18 continued to be the No.1 channel in the English business news genre with 56%1 market share. Programming highlights for the quarter included ‘Engaging the Dragon’ and ‘Asian Tigers’ featuring interviews of the biggest corporate names in China and India.
2. CNBC Awaaz continued to dominate as the No.1 channel in the Hindi business news genre with 58%2 market share.
3. CNBC Bajar continued to engage with its audience reaching out to over 6.5 million3 viewers in this quarter.

General News - CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN Lokmat
1. CNN-IBN continued to be a dominant player, increasing its market share from 26% in Q1 FY15 to 29%1 in Q1 FY16. Key initiatives in this quarter included special programming around the Net Neutrality debate and 9th season of Campus Calling.
2. IBN7 continues to engage with its audience reaching out to almost 100 million2 viewers during the quarter.
3. IBN Lokmat was re-launched with fresh content, revamped style and a new tag line ‘Maharashtracha Mahachannel’ during this quarter. The channel continues to expand its digital footprint with over 1 million Facebook fans, 10,000+ Twitter followers and close to 10 million views on YouTube.

Entertainment– Viacom18
1. Colors was the No.1 channel in prime time and continued to be No.2 in weekly gross viewership in the genre1 during the quarter. It had 5 out of the top 10 fiction shows2 across Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs). ‘India’s Got Talent’ and ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’ were the No.1 and No.2 non-fiction shows respectively in the Hindi GEC genre. On the digital platform, Colors led the genre with highest fan base on Facebook (9 million) and Twitter (0.6 million followers).
2. MTV garnered a viewership of over 4 million3 during this quarter. ‘Roadies X2’ was one of the top 3 shows in the youth genre. Mtvindia.com attracted 17 million monthly visits and over 30 million page views during the quarter. MTV India App had over 330,000 downloads.
3.MTV Indies website touched 1 million unique visits during the quarter while the Indies App received over 230,000 sessions across Android and iOS.
4. Viacom18 English channels (Vh1 and Comedy Central) dominated the English general entertainment and music genre with a market share of 49%4 during the quarter. Vh1 led the genre with a 32%5 market share.
5. Nick and Nick Junior continued to lead the kids’ genre6. A digital video hosted on Sonic’s Facebook page tracking the chase between the characters of its popular show ‘Pakdam Pakdai’, became one of the biggest kids digital activity in the country, with over 200,000 views with a reach of 2.5 million.
6. Viacom18 Motion Pictures released 4 films during Q1 FY16 including Bollywood films ‘Gabbar Is Back’, ‘Dharam Sankat Mein’ and ‘Margarita with A Straw’, and Paramount’s ‘Spongebob- Sponge out of Water’. ‘Gabbar is Back’ was a huge commercial success and gathered highly positive response from critics and audience alike. ‘Margarita with a Straw’ won awards in various prestigious film festivals like Toronto International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival.