Advertisers have started taking digital seriously: Network18 Digital Head Puneet Singhvi

The quarter ended June was a big one for Network18 Digital both in terms of  audience growth and advertising revenues, Puneet Singhvi, President, Digital & Corporate Strategy, Network18 said in an interview.

Well thought through offerings to advertisers made a difference, Singhvi said.

"We did give an interesting combination of ad space, we didn’t just stick to inventories. We offered a combination of inventories, branded content and several other innovative IPs. All this gave us that momentum and further ended up giving us a quarter, which is solid all around," he said.

Network18 digital revenues grew 34 percent year-on-year to Rs 47 crore. Growing ad-spends in News18.com, in particular the languages segment, boosted revenues amidst a tepid environment.

Singhvi said that advertisers have now started taking the digital medium seriously.

"Digital is now in double-digits, it is 17 percent of overall advertising pie," he said.

“Also, now given the combination of advertising that we can do, which is far beyond the standard display banner, more clients are getting interested. Looking at the current circumstances where people are looking at ROI (return on investment) very keenly, digital works very well for them as they are able to get the best of both worlds in terms of brands and performance,” he said.

Network18 Digital, which boasts of digital properties like moneycontrol.com, firstpost.com, and news18.com among others, is number2 in digital news and information category with roughly 166 million unique visitors.

The rising strength of the News18.com brand and the tailwinds in vernacular consumption have helped News18 languages grow at an industry-leading pace, with 46 percent rise in viewership during the June quarter, compared to the year-ago period.

Moneycontrol app continued to remain the best-in-class, with industry-leading active users and engagement. Moneycontrol News saw a yet another strong quarter, driven by events such as Lok Sabha elections and IPL, among others. Average monthly users jumped 43 percent quarter-on-quarter, making Moneycontrol the number 2 mobile-site platform.

The recently launched subscription product Moneycontrol Pro has seen significant traction with an over 85 percent growth in subscribers quarter-on-quarter.

News18.com (English and languages) is now a clear number 2 player in general news category with 39 percent growth in unique visitors. News18 languages continues to see strong growth in page views of around 46 percent over previous quarter with industry-leading engagement on its site.

Firstpost with its extensive coverage of elections, cricket coupled with editorial initiatives on new segments has now emerged to be number 5 player with viewership growing by 65 percent during the June quarter.