News Broadcasting
Asiasat reports 24 per cent decline in profits
MUMBAI: Satellite operator Asiasat has announces its 2003 annual results. Profit amounted to HK$424 million. In 2002 the figure was HK$555 million. This represents a significant reduction of 24 per cent from the previous year.
Turnover for the year was HK$896 million. In 2002 the figure stood at HK$951 million representing a decline of six per cent. The company atrbuted the performance to slow growth in new demand, business contraction of some customers, and continuing price pressure on new leases and renewals.
The company added that the restrictions on travel resulting from the continued existence of Sars affected its ability to market and serve new and existing customers throughout the Asian region. At the peak of Sars almost all marketing activities came to a halt..The regional transponder market remained sluggish, lagging behind the early signs of economic improvement in some Asian markets.
While the results were disappointing the company maintained that they were in line with its earlier indications. The above mentioned decline in profit was attributable mainly to the anticipated increase in depreciation on the new AsiaSat 4 and increased in-orbit insurance costs. All this went hand in hand with the decrease in turnover and an additional provision of deferred tax for both current and prior years. This arose as a result of the increase in the Hong Kong tax rate from 16 per cent to 17.5 per cent on 1 April 2003.
Asiasat admitted that its strategy to achieve organic growth, and growth through acquisition and partnership was held back by the poor economic climate and the failure of identified targets to meet the investment criteria. On a more positive note the company continued to benefit from strong cash flow from its operations. It generated a net cash inflow of HK$253 million (2002: HK$270 million) after paying capital expenditure of HK$162 million (2002: HK$440 million) and dividends of HK$203 million (2002: HK$78 million). At the end of 2003, the Group had a cash balance of HK$659 million (2002: HK$406 million).
The launch and commissioning of Asiasat 4 is incurring additional costs for the group at a time when markets have remained soft. The short-term impact is negative. However for the longer term, the addition of Asiasat 4, which has a life expectancy of over 15 years places the group as a strong provider in the market with the significant growth potential states a company release.
Looking to this year the company has reiterated the fact that its business was long-term in nature, and that the positive factors that drive demand remain in place. They are television distribution and increasingly in more developed markets, High Definition Television, and telecommunications networks that need connectivity over wide geographic coverage, at a fixed cost. This was where satellites succeed and terrestrial services cannot compete particularly in large and physically scattered regions like the Asia Pacific. On the flip side the company does not see material signs of improvement among regional operators, nor new entrants to the market that would enable the group to deliver stronger results this year as compared with last year.
News Broadcasting
Times Network to air JVC Exit Poll across 5 regions on April 29
Four-hour broadcast spans states and Puducherry with data-led analysis
MUMBAI: Times Network is set to roll out what it calls one of its most expansive election programming efforts yet, culminating in the JVC Exit Poll on 29 April, with a multi-hour broadcast spanning key poll-bound regions.
The exit poll will air across Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, beginning at 5pm and 4pm respectively. Co-powered by Vedanta and Jindal Stainless, the programming aims to combine on-ground reportage with data-driven projections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
The network has deployed over 50 journalists across these regions, gathering voter sentiment and local insights in the run-up to polling. The effort builds on its ongoing election formats such as Election Yatra and Election Premier League, which have tracked campaign narratives and community-level issues.
In parallel, Times Now Navbharat has focused on constituency-level reporting in West Bengal through its Jan Gan ka Mann series, capturing voter opinions across diverse segments.
The coverage has also featured interviews with prominent political leaders. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan have appeared on the network’s election specials. From Tamil Nadu, voices including deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP leader K Annamalai and NTK’s Seeman have also featured in discussions.
On the day of the exit poll, the network’s primetime anchors, including Navika Kumar, Zakka Jacob and Sumit Awasthi, will lead the coverage. They will be joined by a panel of political analysts, psephologists and senior journalists offering real-time insights and interpretation of trends.
The programming will integrate grassroots reportage with analytics from the JVC Exit Poll, aiming to give viewers an early sense of electoral outcomes ahead of the official results on 4 May.
With its combined English and Hindi broadcast reach, Times Network is positioning this effort as a comprehensive look at voter sentiment, blending field reporting, data and debate to decode what could lie ahead when the final mandate is revealed.
