Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL) has filed a hundred crore defamation suit against News Laundry Media Pvt. Ltd. and nine of its employees in the Bombay High Court for allegedly defaming the editors of the Times Now channel a part of the BCCL television broadcasting and distribution group – Times Network.

BCCL has sought directions to Newslaundry to deposit the entire compensation amount with the high court and to restrain them from re-telecasting or commenting on the defamatory content published on its website and YouTube channel.

The petition questions the “tone and tenor” of the videos, alleging misuse of freedom of speech and expression, terming it as a malicious attempt to malign the reputation of Senior Management of BCCL.

Sun TV, an Indian Tamil language entertainment channel reported 15.88% of net profit in the quarter end 31 December 2020, at Rs 445.54 crore as against Rs 384 crore in the corresponding period in 2019.  Sun Tv also reported 17.26% growth in gross revenues for the Dec-20 quarter on consolidated basis at Rs994.14r.

The network posted EPS of Rs 11.30 in Q3, as compared to Rs 8.50 in the preceding quarter, and Rs 9.76 for the period ended 31 December 2019.

For the quarter, Sun TV reported 3% growth in subscription revenues at Rs 424cr but the real thrust came from the bounce back in advertisement revenues which had taken a back seat during the pandemic.The EBITDA grew by four per cent at Rs 600.68 crores for the current quarter as against Rs 580.36 crores during the previous quarter ended 31 December 2019. Q3 profit before tax jumped 19 per cent to Rs 592.62 crores as against Rs 498.46 crores in the year ago period.

Despite BARC withholding TV news ratings for over 12 weeks, there has been little to no impact on ad rates. The high demand for the category added to improving consumer sentiments has kept ad rates stable in the genre. Backed by festive fervour, the rates have actually gone up in the blackout period, said media buyers. 
It in fact high impact news has kept the news genre buzzing with advertisement monies at unaltered rates in the absence of ratings. 
“News is one of the key genres in a TV media plan for multiple product categories. In case of certain products/services targeting males, it is the lead genre; hence the inventory demand for the genre is always high. Absence of ratings hasn’t really affected the rates of News channels. News channels attract audiences when instances and events happen, and from the time News ratings have stopped, enough and more events have happened, which will bring the audiences to news channels – Farmers agitation, COVID vaccine launch, Union budget after a Pandemic year and most importantly the political battleground being set for the forthcoming state elections. Audiences are curious to get details about these socio-political events,” said Navin Kathuria, EVP & Principal Partner, OMD Mudramax.

Discovery Communications India has posted Profit after Tax (PAT) for the financial year 2019-2020 of Rs. 55 crores as against Rs. 46 crores in the previous year, thereby registering a growth of 18.23%, according to Registrar of Companies (ROC) filing shared by market intelligence firm Tofler.

The company said in the financial statement that in the year 2019-2020, the network has performed satisfactorily. The company’s Net Revenue from operations is approximately Rs. 872 crores as against Rs. 762 crores in the previous year, registering a growth of 14.48%.

 

The company revenue from advertising publicity dropped by 24% to Rs 117 crores as compared to Rs 154 crores in the previous year. However, the revenue from other services increased by 24% to Rs 740 crores against Rs 598 crores in the previous year.

The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has informed that the licences of 205 TV channels have been cancelled in the last five years since January 2016. Further, 909 satellite TV channels have been permitted to operate in India till January 2021.

"The total number of permitted channels as on 31.01.2021 is 909. 205 TV channels have been cancelled since 01.01.2016 due to various reasons viz. surrender by the permission holders, nonpayment of annual permission fee, non-operation of channel," I&B minister Prakash Javadekar said in the Lok Sabha.

The advertising volume of the retail sector on television plunged by 34% in 2020 over 2019, as per the TAM AdEx-Mirroring 2020 for the retail sector. Meanwhile, the sector witnessed 1.6-times growth in advertising volume in the fourth quarter of 2020 as compared to the first quarter.  

The report mentioned that due to Covid-19, lowest ad volumes were observed in the second quarter that includes the lockdown period. 

 

It took four months post lockdown for the retail sector’s ad volumes to recover and reach more than the pre-lockdown level. During the festive period, ad volumes on television witnessed double digit growth.

With the functioning of BARC India coming under scrutiny in light of the TV rating scam unearthed by the Mumbai Police, the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) is analysing the present TV rating guidelines for any shortcomings.

It is pertinent to note that the four-member committee formed by the MIB to review guidelines on Television Rating Agencies in India has submitted its recommendation. The committee was formed in the backdrop of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) recommendations on the review of TV audience measurement and rating system.

Nostalgia was the key theme across Hindi General Entertainment Channels (GECs) in the first half of 2020. What begun with DD National airing classics like Ramayan and Mahabharat -- the most-watched shows during that period --, culminated with other GECs following suit with shows like Devo Ke Dev Mahadev, Saath Nibhana Sathiya, Mahabharat, Buniyaad, Dekh Bhai Dekh, and Circus, which made a comeback on TV.

With television devoid of fresh content due to production pause last year, content consumption on Hindi GEC witnessed a huge change. However, post- lockdown, content creators have been putting together shows on television, while following safety protocols. 

The broadcast industry, it seems, is well on its way to overcome the pandemic challenge. After witnessing a de-growth in the first half of 2020, the sector has started 2021 on a positive note, and the year ahead looks promising. As per the TAM AdEx data, TV's advertising volumes grew by 34% in January 2021 compared to January 2020. And the good thing is that all genres are contributing to this growth, unlike the Covid period when only few major genres witnessed a hike.

"The recovery has been excellent for the broadcast business, and 2021 opened on a positive note. Apart from the increase in ad volumes, the trading level is now back to pre-Covid levels. The business is nearly back to normal levels," says Rohit Gupta, President, Sony Pictures Networks India.

Bharti Airtel's direct-to-home (DTH) arm Airtel Digital TV has reported flat revenue growth of Rs 789.2 crore for the quarter ended 31st December 2020 compared to Rs 746.1 crore (on a comparable basis) in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

Airtel Digital TV's reported EBITDA was down 3% at Rs 529.1 crore compared to Rs 544.1 crore. EBIT rose 2% to Rs 307 crore from Rs 301 crore. Operating Free Cash Flow increased 7% to Rs 206.5 crore from Rs 193.1 crore. During the current quarter, the company incurred a capital expenditure of Rs 322.6 crore.

 

The DTH operator added 485,000 net subscribers compared to 549,000 in Q2 FY21 and 101,000 in Q3 FY20. Airtel's DTH subscriber base stood at 17.87 million, as of 31st December 2020. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) stood at Rs 149 in Q3 compared to Rs 148 in Q2. In Q3 FY20, the ARPU stood at Rs 162. The monthly churn is 1.4% as against 1.5% in Q2 and 1.8% in Q3 FY20.