Network18 Media & Investment Ltd | Owner

Network18 is the flagship investment of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in the Media and Entertainment sector. Network18’s television channels reach out to 800+ million people in India, representing 95%+ of the TV viewing universe. This makes more than 1 in every 2 Indians a consumer of Network 18 broadcast content.

Profile of Network18 Media & Investments Limited

Network 18 Media & Investments Limited is India’s most diversified media conglomerate, with its interests across television, digital content, filmed entertainment, ticketing & live, print and allied businesses.

TV18 Broadcast Limited

‘TV18 Broadcast Limited’ (‘TV18’), a subsidiary of Network18, manages its primary business of broadcasting. It runs the largest news network in India, spanning business news (4 channels with market leadership), general news (1 each in English and Hindi), and regional news (14 channels across India, including joint venture News18-Lokmat).

• TV18 has cemented its #1 position among news networks in India.
• Its 20 domestic channels span 15 languages, providing a solid leadership in reach. With a 10.5% share of news viewership in FY 2019-20, TV18 maintains its leadership even versus legacy brands and free-to-air networks.

Marquee brands that are a part of this news bouquet are CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, and CNN-News18. For the Indian diaspora and others across the globe, News18 international delivers definitive Indian news.

Year (₹ Cr)	Mar-19	Mar-20	Mar-21	Mar-22	Mar-23
Equity	293	-1	29	237	157
Debt	3,045	3,265	2,554	2,284	5,867
Capital	3,338	3,264	2,583	2,521	6,024
Cash from Operation	-204	78	1,346	641	-2,804
Cash ROCE	-6%	2%	52%	25%	-47%

Network 18 Owner

Network18 is promoted by Independent Media Trust of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary. Reliance is the network 18 owner.

Viacom18 Media Private Limited

TV18’s entertainment subsidiary Viacom18 Media Private Limited (‘Viacom18’) (a joint venture with Viacom Inc) operates an array of entertainment channels. The entertainment portfolio comprises Hindi general entertainment channels, English entertainment,
movies, youth and musical entertainment, kids’ genre, and nine regional entertainment channels. This includes leading properties such as Colors, MTV, and Nickelodeon.

Besides this, through Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the Group has a presence in the movies business too. TV18’s infotainment subsidiary AETN18 Media Private Limited (a joint venture with A+E Networks) operates factual entertainment and lifestyle channels such as History TV18 and FYI TV18, respectively.

• Subsidiary Viacom18 (a JV with Viacom Inc) is the youngest and fastest growing premium entertainment network in India.
• It is the #3 pan-India full portfolio entertainment broadcaster (excluding sports) with a 9.5% viewership share in FY 2019-20.
• Apart from TV broadcasting, its full-portfolio-offering includes a film studio renowned for clutter-breaking cinema, and a leading OTT platform Voot.

TV18 and Viacom18 have formed IndiaCast Media Distribution Private Limited (‘IndiaCast’), a multi-platform content asset monetisation entity. This drives domestic and international channel distribution, placement services, and content syndication for the Group’s channels as well as for other broadcasters.

In the publishing business, Network18 is present through consumer magazines, in the corporate, auto, photography, and interiors space. The magazines are Forbes India, Overdrive, Better Photography, and Better Interiors.

• Network18’s digital content properties across news and entertainment are now used by over 190 million people; and 1 in every 4 Internet users in India is on Network18 websites or apps.
• Network18’s operating model puts the audience at the centre. It is driven by its zeal to provide consumers with best-in-class Media and Entertainment products and content that establishes new benchmarks in creative excellence, fair journalism and audience
• engagement.

Network18 Group also houses digital content business which spans websites and mobile applications, covering general and business news and opinion. This includes media platforms such as

• Moneycontrol,
• News18.com,
• CNBCTV18.com, and
• Firstpost.com.

Viacom18 also operates Voot, an OTT (Over the Top) distribution platform offering Video On-Demand. Network18 is the largest shareholder in BookMyShow, the leading online entertainment ticketing platform in India. It services over 240 cities and 2,800 screens and manages ticketing as well as live event production.

Network 18 subsidiaries

The following are the List of network 18 subsidiaries. Direct Subsidiaries of Network18 Media & Investments Limited

1. TV18 Broadcast Limited India
2. Infomedia Press Limited
3. Colosceum Media Private Limited
4. e-Eighteen.com Limited
5. Greycells18 Media Limited
6. Network 18 Media Trust India
7. Digital18 Media Limited India
8. Media18 Distribution Services Limited India
9. Web18 Digital Services Limited

List of Business News

CNBC-TV18

CNBC-TV18 has lived up to its reputation as a market leader in the English Business News genre. It marked a milestone by completing 20 years at the forefront, consistently delivering incisive and accurate information.

It won the Best English Business Channel award, among other felicitations at the ENBA Awards. It also won for ‘Best Coverage on Policies & Macro Economy – Television’ at
the ANMI – 11th International Convention and Media Awards, 2020, and recognition for “notable contribution in the development of Indian financial markets”.

CNBC-TV18 continues to celebrate entrepreneurs and business leaders across all walks of life. The channel, during the year, hosted yet another successful edition of the India Business Leader Awards (IBLA), a pioneering event in this field.

CNBC-AWAAZ

CNBC-AWAAZ celebrated 15 years of excellence in making Business News accessible to the masses. The channel garnered 53.9% market share during the Budget Week in Hindi Speaking markets (HSM)2 , driven by extensive onair coverage throughout the month with special shows and onground reports.

At the prestigious ENBA 2019 Awards, CNBC-AWAAZ won ‘Best Business News Channel Award (Hindi)’ among other honours. It also won the award for ‘Best TV Channel for Commodities – Viewers’ Choice’ by the CPAI (Commodity Participants’ Association of India).

CNBC BAJAR

CNBC Bajar is India’s first Gujarati business news channel. With its unique content mix and extensive ground reporting, it has established itself as a preferred channel.

List of General News

CNN-NEWS18

Known for its legacy of diverse programming and rich-content, the channel presented unmatched coverage of Assembly elections – in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram – under the umbrella branding ‘Battle For the
State(s).’

A major highlight of the election programming was the introduction of AI-driven live interactive tools such as Magic Wall and Elex-A, which gave CNN-News18 an edge over its competitors.

News18 International

CNN-News18 content is also available to the Indian diaspora through two international feeds in the US, UK, Singapore, and Dubai under the brand name News18. The content mix
includes two business shows – India Business Day & India Markets Live.

News18 India

The highlight on News18 India was the programming line-up for General Elections 2019 – Sabse Bada Dangal. This included poll of polls (exit poll), extensive coverage on Polling Days and Counting Day, audience-based shows with key political leaders, chaupal-cum-travelogue shows, a series of Hasya Kavi Sammelans, and election bulletins.

The channel extended the Sabse Bada Dangal franchise to the Assembly elections of Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Delhi in the latter half of the year. Other key programming highlights on News18 India included Jeetega To India Hi, around the Cricket World Cup; and Kargil Ki Kurbani Zinda Hai, a special show on the 20th anniversary of
Kargil War.

News18 Regional channels – Hindi Markets

All the HSM channels did extensive programming on the General Elections 2019 to capture the pulse of the voters. Most of the HSM channels conducted Rising/ Agenda Summits in their respective states.

The summits saw the participation of top political leaders, bureaucrats, and prominent figures from sport and entertainment. News18 UP/UK, Bihar Jharkhand & MP/CG won the prestigious ENBA Awards for their shows. The channels also ran a viewer engagement programme called Kahta Hai Voter during the General Elections. News18 Rajasthan is the undisputed No. 1 in its space, commanding around 54% market share1.

News18 Regional channels – Other languages

Most of the channels in the Languages cluster have improved their ranking over the year. News18 Tamil established itself as No. 2 among Tamil News Channels2 on the back of innovative programmes like Operation JJ, Magudam Awards, and Kalathin Kural, the flagship property. The News18 Languages cluster won 8 awards at ENBA 2019.

News – Digital

Network18 is the No. 2 player3 in the Digital News / information category with ~172 million unique visitors across all devices. In the last financial year, Network18 recorded 39% growth in UVs, maintaining Market Reach (currently at 42% in India), and 40% increase in page views.

MONEYCONTROL

Having cemented its dominance as the country’s leading financial digital platform for 19 successful years, Moneycontrol provides best-in-class products and services. As the industry leader, Moneycontrol has in-depth analysis, industry perspective, daily market updates, technical tools and news, giving investors the perfect platform to make decisions. Total unique visitors for Moneycontrol grew by 25%. Its mobile app is also an undisputed
leader in the business and finance industry with over 3.71 million
unique users.

Complementing Moneycontrol are its latest services that include the Stock Pin, Market Drawer, Easybiz, Moneybhai, and Podcast with over 5 million listeners to date.
The premium, ad-free, subscription-based service, Moneycontrol Pro, delivers investment and trading recommendations, curated market data, nuanced takes on macro, corporate and policy actions, and insights from market gurus. Gathering over 1.5 lakh subscribers in less than a year after its launch proves its efficacy as a value-added property.

NEWS18.com

News18.com, with its coverage across 13 languages, is one of most preferred Digital News destinations in the country; it has grown its audience base to 106 million(1) UVs a 48%(1) growth over March 2019.

India’s second largest digital English news brand, News18.com touched new heights this financial year by becoming the market leader and go-to destination on big news days like the Lok Sabha Election results, Ayodhya verdict, Chandrayaan-2, and abrogation of Article 370.

News18 Languages now has 12 sites in Hindi, Marathi, Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi, Urdu, Assamese, and Odia. It boasted of monthly unique visitor growth of 90% over March 2019, and is the preferred site for regional language mobile users with industry-leading engagement in the genre.

FIRSTPOST

One of the most-visited Digital newsrooms in the industry, with its comprehensive coverage and thoughtful analysis, Firstpost has captured a leadership position. In 2019, the website launched a series of content packages designed around specific technologies and platforms to cover the parliamentary elections; these included animated videos, podcasts, and mobile journalism.

Firstpost also launched Tech2 Innovate, India’s only technology-entertainmentscience festival, spread over two days, featuring cutting-edge acts and interactions with industry leaders.

CNBCTV18.com

CNBCTV18.com is run as India’s first integrated newsroom in collaboration with CNBC-TV18, the TV channel. Since its launch in 2018, the platform has grown significantly, delivering on its promise of value addition to the audiences of CNBC-TV18 with an array of products such as podcasts, newsletters, digital videos, etc.

List of Infotainment Channels Factual Entertainment

History TV18

In FY 2019-20, History TV18 renewed its promise of bringing novel and ground-breaking factual entertainment to Indian audiences. The year’s Originals showcased India’s history-making events and brought to life compelling stories that continue to shape the present.

India Inked: History’s Biggest Election ventured beyond politics to take a closer look at the staggering scale of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. In the world-class production, Kumbh: Among the Seekers, viewers saw Kumbh Mela as never before, with human stories, rare insights, jaw-dropping facts, and spectacular visuals in an immersive narrative about the largest human gathering on the planet.

The channel also premiered the sixth season of OMG! Yeh Mera India, the country’s most successful locally-produced and returning factual entertainment franchise, a celebration of
incredible India.

Lifestyle Channel FYI TV18

FYI TV18 continued its dominance as India’s No. 1 Lifestyle Entertainment Channel with its differentiated content straddling food, travel, homes, relationships, fashion, and glamour.

ENTERTAINMENT – BROADCAST AND DIGITAL Hindi Mass Entertainment

Colors

Colors remained at the forefront of delivering bold, empowering, and differentiated content in FY 2019-20. This fiscal year, it registered the highest weekly ratings among Hindi GECs in the past 4 years. For the entire FY 2019-20, Colors has been the No. 3 player in the Hindi GEC category .

Bigg Boss emerged as the No. 1 non-fiction property in the Hindi GE category, reaching out to 200+ million viewers on both Colors SD and HD feed. The current season of Bigg Boss was the highest rated ever.

Colors Cineplex

Colors Cineplex is a Hindi movie pay channel, launched on March 1, 2019. Since its launch, it has been gaining viewership share steadily, through a combination of movie premieres and film festivals.

Colors Cineplex, along with the Road Safety Cell of Maharashtra, presented a one-of-a-kind cricket series with 11 matches in a T-20 format. Cricket legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Jonty Rhodes, Brett Lee, and T. Dilshan led their respective teams, which included Virender Sehwag, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Yuvraj Singh, keeping the series entertaining and making audiences love the sport all over again.

The first series match was played on March 7, 2020. Unfortunately, after the first few games, the tournament was halted amidst Covid-19 related lockdowns in India.

Colors Rishtey

Colors Rishtey is Viacom18’s second Hindi mass entertainment offering, launched in March 2019 on the Pay platform. It features the choicest shows from the existing Colors content library – both fiction and non-fiction. Driven by creative programming and deep viewer understanding, the channel gained viewership through the year to become the No. 2 channel in the latter part of the year.

List of Regional Entertainment

Colors Kannada

Resonating with the rich culture of the land, Colors Kannada offers content tailor-made for the discerning Kannada viewer, and is the No. 2 channel in this geography. Colors Kannada launched the popular international show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in Karnataka, as Kannada Kotyadhipati, hosted by one of the most popular Kannada movie stars,
Puneet Rajkumar.

After a gap of two years, the flagship property Bigg Boss S7 was aired on Colors Kannada. Maangal Gowri Maduve continues to be among the top 10 shows in the market.

Colors Super

Launched in FY 2016-17, Colors Super, Viacom18’s second Kannada GEC, continues to entertain audiences in the genre and is No. 5 in the market.

Colors Kannada Cinema

Launched in September 2018 (FY 2018-19), Colors Kannada Cinema is the No. 2 player among Kannada movie channels and has a strong 21% relative share in the market. Colors Kannada and Colors Super command ~32% viewership share in the Kannada GEC space.

Colors Bangla

In FY 2019-20, Colors Bangla was among the top 4 Bengali channels and grew its weekly time spent per viewer by ~27% since last year. The new fiction launches Chirodini Ami Je Tomar, Mangalchandi, and Kanak Kakon, narrating deep-rooted values, resonated with the audience and garnered good viewership.

Colors Marathi

Colors Marathi, the Marathi GEC, continues to be the No. 2 channel with a market share of 25% (FY 2019-20) . The channel viewership jumped by 34%, while time spent per viewer increased by 41% (FY 2018-19 vs FY 2019-20), the highest in the Maharashtra market.

Colors Marathi is the No. 1 channel in rural Maharashtra on the back of popular fiction shows. Balumama and Jeev Jhala Yeda Pisa on this channel are among the Top 5 shows in the Marathi GEC genre. Season 2 of Bigg Boss Marathi continued to enthral audiences and witnessed substantially high viewership.

Colors Gujarati and Colors Gujarati Cinema

Colors Gujarati Cinema was launched in June 2019, with the unique tagline “Filmo Matrubhasha Ma (Films in Mother Tongue)”. The channel launched with 8 premieres in 8 days in the primetime slot; within 4 weeks of the launch, it shot to No. 1 position among
Gujarati language channels. Colors Gujarati and Colors Gujarati Cinema together command a relative share of ~90% of the Gujarati entertainment market.

Colors Odia

Colors Odia, with a growing market share, continues to be the No. 3 channel in the Odia GEC space. The channel this year recorded a 58% growth in time spent per viewer.

Colors Tamil

Colors Tamil is in the second year of its operations, in a highly competitive geography. This year, a 90-minute-long nonfiction property, Kodeeswari, the official Tamil adaptation of the renowned game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, was launched. For the first time in India, the show was hosted by a woman, and all the participants were women.

Youth and Music

MTV India

MTV is an award-winning, iconic, global youth brand known for its path-breaking programming in reality, music and youth-oriented content. MTV leads Youth genre with 34% market share.

MTV Beats

MTV Beats, launched in September 2016, is a 24×7 Bollywood music channel with unique daily thematic playlisting. The channel witnessed over 10% increase in time spent per viewer .

English Channels

COMEDY CENTRAL, COLORS INFINITY and VH1

Viacom18’s English channels, comprising Comedy Central, Colors Infinity, and Vh1, reached 100+ million viewers across India. Following the New Tariff Order (NTO), the English GEC genre witnessed more than a 60% drop in reach as viewership of niche channels took a hit.

The genre found a new normal and Viacom18 treaded carefully with a line-up of quality content and exciting premieres, growing its market share to ~60% in the year.

Comedy Central continues to be the leading English GEC channel in India. Among Pay channels, Comedy Central was No. 1 English GEC for 34 weeks in FY 2019-20.

Colors Infinity presented the Carabao Cup, an annual knockout competition in men’s domestic English football, and handpicked the biggest matches of the season, aired Live on Colors Infinity HD.

Vh1 has provided viewers with their daily dose of international music, Hollywood updates, and pop culture for 15+ years.

Kids Between Nickelodeon, Sonic, and Nick Jr, children’s television portfolio commanded 34% market share. The Nick franchise reached out to 42 million kids every week in FY 2019-20.

Nickelodeon has been the No. 1 channel in the kids’ category since August 2014 and continues to rule with 20% market share.

Sonic serves its young viewers the right combination of action and comedy. The channel has a strong content line-up, featuring shows such as the home-grown Golmaal Jr and Pakdam Pakdai.

Nick Jr is aimed at young parents and pre-schoolers. Internationally acclaimed shows such as Dora the Explorer, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, and Masha and the Bear have been curated by academicians and kid experts.

Nick HD+ Positioned for discerning households, Nick HD+ is the first highdefinition kids’ entertainment channel. It showcases a wide array of content from the international library of Nickelodeon, such as Spongebob Squarepants, Kung Fu Panda, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and more.

Viacom18 Digital Ventures

Reaffirming its position of giving audiences a rich entertainment experience, Viacom18’s digital arm and the 2nd largest premium AVOD platform in India, Voot, achieved another key milestone. The platform, which now has one of the best engagement rates with TSV (Time Spent per day per Viewer) of ~50 minutes and a high frequency of visits (daily active user to monthly active user ratio), entered the decade with an all new feat of 100
million monthly active users.

Voot’s focus on offering diverse entertainment across genres, languages and formats has led to this growth, with 100 billion minutes of watchtime in FY 2019-20.

New Launches/ New platforms

Voot Kids – November 2019 On Children’s day in November 2019, Viacom18 expanded its
digital ecosystem with the launch of its first subscription play – Voot Kids. Leading kids’ content on broadcast, Viacom18, with Voot Kids, extended its thought leadership in the Kids genre with a unique digital service which creates a seamless experience for both fun and learning, in a safe, parentally controlled environment.

Certified by the Early Childhood Association (ECA), Voot Kids is India’s first and only multi-format Kids app offering the largest and most versatile collection of over 20,000 videos, e-books, audio stories and quizzes, with an aim to usher in the next revolution in the kid’s digital ecosystem. It recently also got awarded with the Best Digital Debut of the Year – Voot Kids (Gold) and Platform of the Year – Voot Kids (Silver) at 2020 OTT & Digital
Marketing Innovation Awards (by Promax).

Voot Select

Viacom18 announced on March 3, 2020, the expansion of its digital portfolio by launching Voot’s all-new subscription-based VOD service, Voot Select. Now available across platforms, Voot Select houses some of the most disruptive stories crafted by newage and imaginative storytellers. In a first in the Indian media industry, Voot Select will bring the best of content from Viacom18 channels on the digital platform 24 hours before the episodes debut on TV.

Viacom18 Studios

Viacom18 Motion Pictures Studios is one of the few Indian studios that offer differentiated and meaningful cinema to a wide range of audience segments. The year saw Viacom18 Studios succeed in entering newer avenues and attain greater accomplishments.

CONTENT ASSET MONETIsATION

IndiaCast is a JV between TV18 and Viacom18, and manages content monetisation for TV18, Viacom18 and other broadcasters with three clear mandates:

Domestic IndiaCast manages domestic distribution of the channels from Viacom18, TV18, Turner broadcasting and Eenadu Television (ETPL) across various platforms such as Cable (digital and analogue), DTH, HITS, and IPTV. It also ensures best-in-class availability and reach of all channels by strategically managing key aspects of carriage and placement. IndiaCast has recently signed with Turner for distribution of its channels in India and
Nepal.

International IndiaCast monetises content/programmes from the Group with a rich content library of 60,000+ hours across genres, in 35+ languages, including English, Spanish, Russian, Hebrew, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Macedonian, Kazakh, and Swahili.

Digital IndiaCast also manages digital initiatives of the Group. It is responsible for linear channel distribution to OTT platforms and telecom operators for mobile consumption.
Content Creation & Production

Colosceum In its 12th year of operations, Colosceum has broken new ground in content creation for television and digital medium as well as forayed into events. During the year, Colosceum has produced several popular TV shows across fiction and nonfiction categories
as well as an award winning short film.

List of PUBLISHING

Forbes India

In FY 2019-20, Forbes India instituted a strong portfolio of engagement with the promising segments of readership. This year has led to many successful co-partnerships with new brands and businesses. Forbes India launched two IPs in this year, Forbes India Tycoons of Tomorrow and Forbes India Design Awards.

Overdrive

Overdrive celebrated its 21st anniversary this year, highlighting its stature of being among the oldest and most respected auto media brands. Staying on top of content consumption trends, Overdrive has ramped up its video content generation, even producing exhaustive quality content during the prestigious Auto Expo 2020.

TICKETING & LIVE BookMyShow

During the year, ~25 million BookMyShow apps have been installed. Apart from its primary ticketing business (cinemas, sports and live events), BookMyShow has expanded into live event production as well.