News Broadcasting
Viacom reports impressive Q3 2002 results
NEW YORK: Media conglomerate Viacom has had a happy Q3 2002. The results show that revenues increased 10 per cent to $6.3 billion from $5.7 billion and operating income increased to $1.3 billion from $194 million in the same quarter last year.
Higher revenues and operating income in every segment and a 14 per cent overall increase in advertising revenues, led by the strength of the company’s broadcast and cable networks, and television and radio stations mark this quarter’s results.
Television revenues increased 14 per cent and operating income rose to $314 million from $78 million; cable networks’ revenues grew 13 per cent and operating income increased 41 per cent to $511 million from $363 million; and Infinity revenues increased six per cent driven primarily by 10 per cent growth in radio, and operating income rose to $322 million from $61 million.
Cable Networks (MTV Networks, including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, TNN and CMT; BET; and Showtime Networks ) revenues increased 13 per cent to $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion. Revenue and operating income increases were driven by double-digit advertising revenue growth at MTV, Nickelodeon, TV Land, TNN and BET and increases in affiliate fees. The third quarter included The 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, the most-watched show in its 19-year history.
Television revenues increased to $1.8 billion from $1.6 billion. CBS and UPN Networks combined delivered 18 per cent growth in advertising revenues, led by growth in primetime of over 20 per cent. The Stations group delivered 30 per cent year-over-year advertising revenue growth due to strong sales in the automotive, leisure and media industries as well as increased political ads and the addition of KCAL- Los Angeles, which was acquired in May 2002. KCAL contributed eight per cent of Stations revenue growth for the quarter.
Syndication revenues declined primarily, reflecting the absence of contributions from the syndication of Everybody Loves Raymond in the same quarter last year, partially offset by incremental cable sales in the current quarter. Television’s 2001 results were impacted by the events of 9/11, which caused lower revenues from the cancellation and rescheduling of programming and increased news coverage costs. Television EBITDA increased 23 per cent to $349 million from $283 million.
Video revenues increased 10 per cent to $1.4 billion from $1.3 billion and operating income of $80 million increased from a loss of $318 million. Domestic and international same store sales were up 7.6 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively.
Increased investment in rental and retail initiatives resulted in the decrease in gross margin and operating income, which was also affected by higher marketing costs to initiate new consumer programs. Blockbuster ended the third quarter of 2002 with 8,246 company-owned and franchise stores, a net increase of 395 stores over the third quarter of 2001.
In the fourth quarter of 2002, the company expects to deliver in excess of 20 per cent growth in earnings per share, operating income and EBITDA versus the same quarter last year. For the full year 2003, the company expects to deliver mid-single digit revenue growth resulting in double-digit EBITDA growth and mid-teen growth in operating income and earnings per share.
News Broadcasting
Senior media executive Madhu Soman exits Zee Media
Former Reuters and Bloomberg leader says he leaves with “no regrets” after brief stint at WION and Zee Business
NOIDA: Madhu Soman, a veteran of global newsrooms and media sales floors, has stepped away from Zee Media Corporation after a short stint steering business strategy for WION and Zee Business.
In a reflective LinkedIn note marking his departure, Soman said his time within the network’s corridors was always likely to be brief. “Some chapters close faster than expected,” he wrote, signalling the end of a nearly two-year spell in which he oversaw both editorial partnerships and commercial strategy.
Soman joined Zee Media in 2022 after more than a decade abroad with Reuters and Bloomberg, returning to India to take on the role of chief business officer for WION and Zee Business. His mandate was ambitious: bridge the newsroom and the revenue desk while expanding digital and broadcast reach.
During the stint, Zee Business reached break-even for the first time since its launch in 2005, while WION refreshed programming and strengthened its digital footprint across platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.
But Soman suggested the cultural fit proved uneasy. Describing himself as a “cultural misfit”, he hinted at deeper tensions between editorial instincts shaped in global newsrooms and the realities of India’s television news ecosystem.
Before joining Zee, Soman spent more than seven years at Bloomberg in Hong Kong as head of broadcast sales for Asia-Pacific, expanding the company’s news syndication business across several markets. Earlier, he held senior editorial roles at Reuters, overseeing online strategy in India and managing Reuters Video Services from London.
His career began in television and wire reporting, including a stint with ANI during the 1999 Kargil conflict, before moving into digital publishing as India’s internet media landscape took shape.
Now, after nearly three decades in broadcast and digital media, Soman is leaving Delhi NCR and returning to his hometown, Trivandrum.
Exhausted, he admits. But unbowed. And with one quiet line that sums up the journey: he didn’t sell his soul — because some things, after all, are not for sale.
