News Broadcasting
Zee News Q1 net drops 7.8% on weaker ad rev
MUMBAI: Zee News Ltd (ZNL) has reported a 7.8 per cent fall in consolidated net profit for the fiscal first-quarter, hurt by a dip in advertising revenue as the cricket World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) attracted advertisers.
The net profit for the three months ended June 2011 stood at Rs 50.9 million, pulled down by a 3.5 per cent drop in advertising revenue as many product categories that advertise on the news channels went through a slowdown phase. The slide was somewhat halted by a control in expenses.
Said ZNL managing director Punit Goenka, “The new financial year has started slowly, but considering that the industry de-grew, ZNL has done well to match up with Q1 FY11. Incidentally, ZNL had an exceptionally good Q1 in the last year. In this quarter, the monies got diverted to sporting events, thereby upsetting budgets for other genres including news. We had anticipated this slowdown and had planned accordingly.”
Operating revenue declined 1.8 per cent to Rs 636.6 million from Rs 648.5 million a year ago.
Expenses also fell 1.3 per cent to Rs 560 million, compared with Rs 567.3 million in the earlier year. Ebitda for the first quarter stood at Rs 76.6 million, 5.8 per cent down from Rs 81.2 million.
Said ZNL CEO Barun Das, “While ZNL experienced some slowdown in revenues due to some critical spending product categories being under the weather, our cost effectiveness stood us in better stead compared to the industry in terms of healthy balance sheet.”
ZNL‘s advertising revenue fell to Rs 436.4 million, as against Rs 452.2 million.
Among the expenses, the cost of goods and operations and other expenses fell. However, it was offset by a 14.7 per cent rise in the employee cost.
ZNL posted Ebitda profit of Rs 139 million from its existing business (Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Punjabi and 24 Ghanta). However, in the earlier year, Ebitda was stronger at Rs 208.3 million.
The company, however, managed to narrow the Ebitda loss from its new businesses (Zee 24 Ghantalu, Zee News UP) to Rs 62.5 million. This was mainly because of discontinuation of Zee Tamil on 31 March 2011. In the year-ago period, the Ebitda loss from the new business was Rs 127.1 million.
The company, however, expects the environment for revenue from the news business to improve. Said Goenka, “Going forward, the news genre looks likely to recover traction with eclectic properties that would be seen as viable spending options. In the meantime, the company recently has adopted a new identity infusing freshness in its look and the market has responded enthusiastically to it.”
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
