Network18’s news portfolio grows 6% despite challenging environment

Network18’s news portfolio grows 6% despite challenging environment

Network18 Media & Investments Ltd reported a 6 percent revenue growth to Rs 445 crore in its news portfolio for the fiscal second quarter.

The news division’s growth was driven by increased digital advertisement revenue, even as industry advertising volumes for the news genre softened by 20 percent from a year earlier, Network18 Media said in a statement on October 12.

Network18 Media’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for the news business continued to improve significantly, marking a sharp turnaround in profitability.

Network18 merged TV18 Broadcast Ltd (TV18) and e-Eighteen.com (E18) into its operations, effective October 3. The merger, approved by the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai, has created India’s largest platform-agnostic media powerhouse, with a vast footprint across languages and spanning TV and digital platforms.

“We are happy to have completed the merger of our news businesses. With a strong portfolio of TV channels and digital platforms covering the breadth of the country and catering to its linguistic diversity, we are ideally positioned to become the most preferred news network of India,”  Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman of Network18, said in a statement.

The network’s viewership share across TV channels increased by 60 basis points quarter-on-quarter, strengthening its leadership in key markets.

On the digital front, Moneycontrol maintained its leadership, recording a 50 percent year-on-year increase in unique visitors and over 30 percent growth in page views. The platform launched new analytical tools and data features, including the ‘Portfolio Score’ and ‘Stock Ideas’ offerings, to help users make investment decisions. Additionally, Moneycontrol Pro surpassed 9.2 lakh paid subscribers, strengthening its position as the leading subscription-based news platform in India and ranking among the top three in Asia.

However, Network18 Media’s entertainment segment experienced a soft quarter, leading to a marginal overall revenue decline of 2.2 percent to Rs 1,825 crore in the September quarter from Rs 1,866 crore in the year earlier. The entertainment business saw a 5.4 percent revenue decline due to a lack of major movie releases, though growth in digital and sports segments partially offset the drop. Subscription revenue continued to rise, aided by JioCinema’s rapid expansion, which has now crossed 16 million paid subscribers.

The merged entity now boasts a monthly reach of over 350 million on TV and approximately 250 million monthly unique visitors across its digital portfolio. The combination is expected to result in significant operational synergies, cost optimization, and new revenue opportunities. Shareholders of TV18 and E18 will now be part of Network18, leading to a simplified corporate structure and benefiting from the wider reach and integrated offerings.