MUMBAI: Viacom18, the joint venture between Network18 Group and Viacom, has posted a third straight quarterly loss as operating expenses have surged 47 per cent mainly on account of launch of new channels.

The company, which runs a clutch of entertainment channels including flagship Hindi general entertainment channel Colors, widened its net loss to Rs 532 million for three months ended December, versus a profit of Rs 460 million in the year-earlier period. In the first two quarters of this fiscal, it had slipped into the red with a net loss of Rs 10 million and Rs 284 million.

Operating expenses jumped to Rs 4 billion for the quarter, from Rs 2.72 billion a year ago. Marketing, distribution and promotional expenses made a big leap from Rs 450 million to Rs 926 million. The main trigger in this was an expense of Rs 200 million incurred from the launch of Sonic, Comedy Central and Colors HD. The launch cost and operating loss from new channel History TV18 amounted to Rs 250 million.

The positive thing is that the television business has stayed operationally profitable, primarily led by Colors. The operating profit from this segment has, however, narrowed to Rs 385 million, from Rs 520 million in the year-earlier period.

The movie business suffered an operating loss of Rs 739 million compared to Rs 200 million in the trailing quarter. In the year-ago third quarter, the company had stayed dormant on the movie front, taking an operating loss of just Rs 20 million.

Viacom18 said it has incurred a one-time expense of Rs 390 million in relation to the deferment of the Hindi movie channel. It has also taken write-offs at TIFC (The Indian Film Company) of Rs 146 million.

Overall, the company?s operating loss was Rs 355 million for the quarter, reversing from an operating profit of Rs 510 million a year earlier.

Says Network18 Group CEO Sai Kumar, "During the last quarter, our profits from continuing operations were offset by largely one-time costs incurred towards investments in the expansion of our television channel portfolio and the conscious impairment of our film library given the deferment of our Hindi movies channel. We strengthened our television stable further with launch of new services such as History TV18, Sonic and our HD bouquet comprising Colors HD, History TV18 HD and CNBC-TV18 Prime HD."

The spike in expenses overrided the growth in operating revenues which swung higher to Rs 3.65 billion for the fiscal third quarter compared to Rs 3.23 billion a year ago.

The television segment reported a revenue of Rs 3.54 billion (from Rs 3.23 billion a year ago) while the motion picture arm pocketed just Rs 109 million.

Adertising could continue to show a sluggish trend for the next few months. Says Kumar, "It has clearly been a sluggish phase for the industry as a whole. Advertising revenues continue to exhibit lacklustre growth and may continue at the same pace over the next few months. Our subscription revenues, however, are on track as projected."

MUMBAI: Broadcasters continue to pay steep for acquiring telecast rights of movies that they prize. Competition in the genre is also ensuring that they catch these movies ahead of their box-office release.

Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television India), a traditional high spender, has recently acquired the rights of hit movie The Dirty Picture, which is still running on cinema theatres, and two yet-to-release films, Ek Tha Tiger and Talaash.

Industry sources said MSM paid Rs 140 million for The Dirty Picture but the price for the other movies could not be ascertained.

The company, which runs Hindi general entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Television (Set), Sab and Hindi movie channel Max, has also acquired the rights of Ladies Vs Ricky Behl. 

MSM chief operating officer NP Singh said, "Yes, we will be airing The Dirty Picture in a couple of months. Apart from that, we also have Ladies v/s Ricky Behl. And you will see Aamir Khan?s next Talaash and Salman Khan?s Ek Tha Tiger, exclusively on Sony Network." He, however, refused to disclose the acquisition cost of these movies.

The movie genre is heating up with Star Gold, Star India?s flagship movie channel, acquiring movies aggressively. Additionally, its new programming strategy of more movies and less advertisements has pushed other players to pull up their socks. As a result, the prices of movie acquisitions have not lost steam.

A top executive in a rival network said on condition of anonymity, "The movie acquisition cost is now obscenely high and it is not making business sense to acquire movies at such prices. Moreover the "bold" strategy of Star Gold is spoiling the market. If other players follow suit, we will all be in trouble. Viacom18 has also put its plan on hold because it is not a viable business model any more."

Earlier this year, Viacom18 had syndicated over 500 of its movie titles to Star India for an estimated Rs 4.5 billion.

In 2011, MSM?s other big acquisitions include Murder 2, Aakarshan and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.

MUMBAI: Viacom18 will launch Comedy Central, the sixth channel from the stable, on 23 January.

With the launch of the channel, Viacom18 will mark its presence in another under-served genre ?English comedy. "Given its rich library of world class shows and distinct positioning, we are confident of Comedy Central establishing itself as one of the dominant players in the English entertainment space in Indian television," said Viacom18 group CEO Haresh Chawla.

The channel?s brand philosophy, developed internally, is ?Laugh It Off?. The TG is 15+ SEC, A,B Metros.

Comedy Central expects to be available in 20 million homes, across analogue and digital cable and DTH platforms. On DTH, it will be available on Dish TV and Airtel Digital TV initially, but within two months the aim is to be on all the direct-to-home (DTH) platforms.

Viacom International Media Networks president, CEO Bob Bakish said, ?Comedy Central is one of Viacom?s most distinct and successful franchises globally. We feel that the time is now right for Viacom18 to introduce Comedy Central in India, given the growth curve in the Indian television entertainment market.?

Viacom was planning to get Comedy Central to India for quite a while now. Said Viacom18 Media senior VP, GM English entertainment Ferzad Palia, ?The time is right partly due to the spread of digitisation and also because people at this time are stressed. They are open to comedy and to laughing at themselves. Exposure to international content is growing as people increasingly travel.?

The programming will be a mix of sitcoms, sketch comedy, British comedy, stand ups and gags. Some of the shows the channel will air include Daily Show with John Stewart, South Park, Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, The Office and Seinfeld. Movies will eventually air during the weekends.

Local shows will form part of the content strategy. ?There will be something for everyone. Among other things, we will develop our own talent which we would take overseas to give them a wider platform.?

For the youth, South Park will air a block called Cinderella Hour at midnight. Shows like Fawlty Towers, Allo Allo will air on the weekend where people have more time on their hands. ?Unlike other channels that mainly run marathons to allow viewers to catch up on the weekend, Comedy Central will also have premieres. In terms of the channel?s overall content, around half of it will be fresh,? said Palia.

Comedy Central has no plans to introduce a dubbed language feed as the nuances of comedy are difficult to translate. ?The channel will, however, have subtitles,? said Palia.

The business model for the channel will be led by advertising, followed by subscription. ?Many advertisers today want to own humour as a platform. We will ask advertisers how they want to use us. We will create packages and interaction mechanisms. Our relationship with advertisers will take the form of activities and doing on-ground events with them among other things,? said Palia.

In India, Viacom18 is planning to take the brand beyond the television screens and is planning to have live events and merchandising.

The launch will be backed later by an extensive marketing campaign. ?Besides television, print, outdoor, other touchpoints will be created including gyms, salons, cafes, cinema halls. 500-600 touch points will be there including in places where one might not expect it like hospitals and chemists through things like prescription pads. We have tied up with Religare Wellness,? averred Palia.

New media will be used as a brand extension. ?We will be present on YouTube, Twitter, etc. We will also have a dial in service on the mobile. The success will rest on how much people interact with the channel. It is not about how it fares in eight weeks. This is a long term commitment,? said Palia.

BBH is the creative agency while Vizeum is the media agency for the channel.

?We are confident that Comedy Central will carve out its own space within no time. All Viacom18 channels are doing extremely well,? said Bakish.

Viacom18 already airs Hindi general entertainment channel Colors, youth channel MTV, kids channel Nick, English entertainment channel Vh1 and has recently launched action channel for young audience ? Sonic.

Initially launched in the US in 1991, Comedy Central started global expansion late 2006. At present, Comedy Central has localised channels in Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Ireland, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Israel and Spain.