TV18 Q1 FY24 results show more than Rs 1,600 crore in IPL revenue

Viacom18 Tuesday reported a revenue of Rs 2,839 crore in the first quarter ending June 30, up 184% from Rs 999 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The jump in revenue was recorded on the back of IPL which was streamed on JioCinema for the first time.

In absolute numbers, the jump in revenue was Rs 1,840 crore.

Considering about a 20% jump in the revenues of the TV entertainment and sports channels of the network, which is in line with the 26% growth in the news television segment of TV18, the revenue attributable to IPL is more than Rs 1,600 crore.

Soon after the IPL 2023, JioCinema claimed to have pocketed Rs 1,600 crore.

However, the entertainment segment of TV18 under Viacom18 witnessed a 208% jump in expenses during the same period.

The expenses in Q1 FY24 were at Rs 2,888 crore compared with Rs 937 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The company said that the increase in operating costs was driven by Sports vertical and excluding the same there was a modest growth in cost on account of entertainment content launched on JioCinema.

“The cost of media rights of IPL has been recognised in line with industry practise of matching with the expected revenue profile,” it added.

In its regulatory filing, TV18 said that Viacom18’s revenue nearly tripled due to the strong performance of IPL on JioCinema.

“Scale, targeting ability, cost flexibility, measurement, and integration options offered by the platform delivered significant advantage to advertisers on JioCinema. The platform recorded the highest-ever number of advertisers on IPL, attracting more than 13 times the number of advertisers on TV. Over 40 advertisers used the platform exclusively for reaching their premium audience on connected TVs. This led to digital revenue being significantly higher than TV revenue for the first time, validating Viacom18’s strategy to secure digital-only rights of IPL,” the company said.

“Excluding sports, the network saw a pick-up in advertising demand on key channels with the regional network delivering growth. However, spends by new-age clients remained weak due to an increased focus on profitability and the soft start-up funding environment, posing a challenge in driving growth,” it added.

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