tv18 broadcast ltd share price Management discussions

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements in the Management Discussion and Analysis, which describe the Companys objectives, projections, estimates and expectations, may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied. Important factors that could influence the Companys operations include economic developments within the country, demand and supply conditions in the industry, input prices, changes in government regulations, tax laws and other factors such as litigation.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

TV18 Broadcast Limited (TV18), a subsidiary of Network18 Media & Investments Limited (Network18), is primarily engaged in the business of news broadcasting. It runs the largest news network in India, spanning business news (Four channels), general news (One each in English and Hindi), and regional news (fourteen channels across India, including a joint venture, News18 Lokmat). Marquee brands like CNBC TV18, News18 India, and CNN News18 are part of this news bouquet. News18 International delivers definitive India-centric news for the Indian diaspora and audiences across the globe.

Viacom 18 Media Private Limited (Viacom18) is a subsidiary of TV18. It operates a portfolio of television channels and digital platforms, and is engaged in production of content. The TV portfolio comprises channels across general entertainment and movie genres in Hindi and regional languages, sports content, English entertainment, youth content, music, and kids entertainment. Colors, MTV, Nickelodeon are some of the leading brands in this portfolio. In April 2023, JioCinema OTT platform became a part of Viacom18 portfolio post the completion of the transaction for strategic partnership with Reliance, Bodhi Tree Systems, and Paramount Global. Viacom18 also has a presence in the film production and movie distribution business through Viacom18 Studios.

TV18 and Viacom18 have a joint venture, IndiaCast, a multi-platform content asset monetisation entity, which brings quality

Indian content to viewers across the globe, driving distribution, placement, and content syndication for the Groups channels and content in domestic and international geographies. TV18s infotainment subsidiary, AETN18 (a joint venture with A+E Networks), operates History TV18, a factual entertainment channel.

Indias Most Diversified Media Group

TV18 is Indias only media and entertainment conglomerate with a presence across the complete spectrum of content genres - news, entertainment, sports, movies, and live entertainment, across multiple platforms like TV, digital, cinemas and on-ground. Our bouquet of diverse offerings delivers authentic news and entertainment content that creates a wholesome experience for the audiences across demographics and socio-economic segments, in their local languages. As a platform which is distribution channel and screen agnostic, our endeavour is to continually expand our reach, to connect with consumers wherever they are present.

TV18 houses a diverse set of brands - home-grown umbrella brands like News18 and Colors, globally popular brands like CNBC, MTV, and Nickelodeon with customised programming for India, and digital powerhouses like JioCinema. The Company has a nimble, digital-first approach with growth engines ready to deliver long-term success. We continue to invest in opportunities presented by Indias rapidly evolving media landscape. The Company aims to achieve leadership positions across markets and lead the transformation of the media eco-system towards a digital first approach. Growth engines of diversified business models, nimble approach, and a long runway for growth, make the Company ready to deliver long-term success.

OPERATING MODEL

TV18s operating model places the audience at its centre and establishes a strong connection with them through its quality content by reaching out to them through its diverse brands across multiple mediums. This business model is contexualised to leverage unique strengths of each of the operating segments.

OPERATING PILLARS

Impactful Reach

In todays information cluttered landscape, reaching the customers in the right context is becoming increasingly challenging. TV18s relentless focus on improving content quality and expanding distribution reach enables it to create a continuous, meaningful connect with consumers.

Platform Agnostic

TV18 is committed to making its content seamlessly accessible to its diverse audience cohorts, wherever they are present, through a platform of their choice. This approach enables the Company to reach its audiences, regardless of geography, language, or demography.

Network Synergies

TV18 is the only truly well-diversified media group in the country with presence across genres. Its breadth of varied properties facilitates cross-promotion and cross-pollination of ideas and expertise, creating strong network effects!

Strategic Collaborations

TV18 has a track record of building successful strategic alliances with leading international companies like Paramount, Bodhi Tree Systems (BTS), NBCU, CNN, and A+E Networks. This not only enables the Group to leverage the strengths of its partners, but also helps it benchmark against global standards.

Brand Excellence

TV18s focus on driving the highest standards of creative excellence by fostering a culture of innovation has helped build brands like Colors, CNBC TV18, and CNN News18, which have become synonymous with the segments in which they operate.

Thought Leadership

TV18 is steered by a team of experienced professionals who believe in excellence and experimentation. The Group has consistently taken a lead in pushing the boundaries of its creative framework and exhibited thought leadership in innovation and execution.

VALUE CHAIN

TV18 is present across the content creation and distribution value chain, delivering the best of Indian and global content to audiences across the country. TV18 and its affiliates across the media value chain provide a compelling value proposition for

its increasingly platform agnostic viewers. Synergies in content creation and efficiency in distribution amplify the reach of TV18s genre-leading brands, seamlessly delivering impactful ideas and immersive imagery to Indias vast and demographically diverse audience.

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Indias GDP grew at 7.2% in FY 2022-23, making it one of the fastest growing major economies in the world. Despite the impact of high inflation, as a consequence of the sharp rise in oil prices post the Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as the disruption of global supply chains in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, Indian economy fared better than the rest of the world. Consumer demand decelerated in the first half as prices of consumer goods went up to keep pace with raw material prices. Monetary tightening in the second half impacted the industrial growth and consumer purchasing power, even as the Government increased spending on capital expenditure.

Media and Entertainment sector, being inextricably linked to the macro-economic environment, also faced headwinds during the year. While the demand for content continued to grow as consumers increasingly spent more time on media consumption, monetisation faced challenges on both advertising and subscription front. As per the FICCI EY M&E 2023 report (Report), Television segment revenue declined in CY2022 as advertising was flat and subscription revenue declined. Print revenue grew but remained well below pre-pandemic levels. Digital segment grew driven by the growth in advertising spends of both large companies and SMEs. Cinema footfalls bounced back strongly after the pandemic-led disruption of almost two years.

Economic Survey FY 2022-23 projects a baseline GDP growth of 6.5% in real terms next fiscal, driven by strong credit disbursal and capital investment cycle. Economic growth will be further supported by wide-ranging Government initiatives to boost manufacturing and infrastructure. As per the Report, Indian M&E sector is expected to grow to ? 2.3 tn in CY2023, a growth of ~12%. Digital will continue to be the leading driver of growth with 18% increase in revenue. M&E industry is expected to register a CAGR of 10.5% over 2022-25 to reach ? 2.8 tn, with Digital overtaking TV to become the largest segment. Print and TV are expected to grow at a low single-digit rate, and will continue to lose share in the overall pie.

HIGHLIGHTS

Digital Continues to Drive Growth in an Otherwise Dull Advertising Environment

Despite a relative slowdown in advertising, industry ad revenues grew by 19% in CY2022, primarily driven by 30%+ growth in spends on digital advertising. Including spends by small and medium-sized businesses, which account for more than a third of digital advertising revenue, digital commands nearly 50% share of the total ad revenues. TV segment ad revenue was flat and its share in the advertising pie declined by ~500bps. As per various industry reports, despite the slowdown in TV revenue, Digital and TV are the most effective mediums for brand building and reach, capturing nearly 80% share of the total ad spends. Despite a 13% YoY growth, Print continues to struggle to get back to the revenue level of 2018. For CY2023, it is expected that the advertising industry will grow at ~12%, led by Digital growth at ~20%, while TV is expected to continue its trajectory of modest growth.

OTT Advertising and Subscription to Continue Growing

Given the secular trend of increasing smartphone and internet penetration, digital medium is expected to continue its impressive growth for the foreseeable future. Within Digital, OTT is one of the fastest growing segments as increasingly more consumers spend time on consuming content on these platforms. As per the BCG CII Report - Shaping the Future of Indian M&E, the current size of the Indian OTT market is US$ 2.6 bn and it is expected to register a CAGR of over 20% to reach US$ 11-13 bn by 2030. OTT provides two options to the consumer - to consume free content with advertising (AVOD model) or watch premium content paying a subscription fees (SVOD model). As per the BCG CII Report, India currently has 85-90 mn subscriptions which are expected to nearly double to 160-165 mn by 2027. Bundling of subscriptions through telecom plans and other aggregator platforms is also expected to aid this growth. Moreover, OTT advertising will grow on the back of increasing internet-connected audience, growing consumption and improving targeting advertising capabilities.

Connected TVs - A Promising Growth Opportunity

Large screen, internet-connected mobile phones have been the primary driver for the massive growth in content consumption and digital advertising in India, responsible for nearly 90% of this consumption and revenue opportunity. However, the engagement levels on TV screens continue to be much higher than mobile handsets. Connected TVs (CTV) offer the best features of both traditional and digital eco-system with a large screen size and ability for targeted advertising, providing an opportunity for brands to reach premium audience in an intelligent way. Due to the low device penetration, CTV advertising in India is currently at a nascent stage, at just over 1% of total TV spends. However, with the fast-increasing adoption of CTVs in India, it is expected that advertising spends on the platform will also follow suit. The growth in CTV revenue is also expected to be subscription driven, fuelled by the investments in high-quality digital content production by various players. This is likely to further accelerate the adoption of CTV, as viewers seek out big-screen experience for the premium content.

New Tariff Order Finally Cleared Legal Hurdles

After being mired in multiple litigation challenges for more than two years, the amended New Tariff Order (NTO 2.0) was finally cleared for implementation earlier this year. TRAI, the regulatory body, amended some of the clauses in the regulation, post an industry-wide consultation process. Proposal to lower the price cap of a channel for inclusion in a bouquet to ? 12 (a-la-carte price) was dropped, reverting to the original price cap of ? 19. Another key change which proposed to introduce a maximum discount cap of 33% on bouquet price (compared to sum of individual channels) was modified to increase the limit to 45%, giving more flexibility to broadcasters. While a few appeals were filed against the new regulations by some industry participants, it was finally implemented in February 2023.

Major Hindi General Entertainment Channels Moved out of the DD Freedish Platform

At the beginning of the year, all major broadcasters took their FTA channels off DD Freedish distribution platform. Given the quality of content on these channels is superior to most of the other content available on the FTA platform, it provides an incentive for consumers to upgrade and become pay subscribers. This helped to partially stem the loss of pay-TV subscribers to FTA eco-system, an issue which has been plaguing the industry since the implementation of NTO 1.0 in early 2019. Withdrawal from DD FreeDish had an impact on viewership, upto 90% for some of these channels. Subsequently, it also impacted the ad revenue of these channels and the networks. However, FTA strategy of broadcasters remains dynamic and might undergo change in future.

FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Business environment during the year was challenging due to the slowdown in advertising demand, primarily on television. Economic sentiment remained weak with high inflation posing a challenge for companies, especially the FMCG sector. As a result of these headwinds, brands held back advertising spends on new product launches and sustenance campaigns. Advertising spends by start-ups and e-commerce players also declined sharply due to the weak fund-raising environment. In the TV segment, news advertising inventory registered a double-digit drop, while entertainment inventory was flat. Subscription revenue remained flat for the first nine months as the ongoing litigations against NTO 2.0 prevented any change in pricing. Our subscription revenue grew in the fourth quarter on the back of Sports business. Growth in movie production and Sports business revenues partially offset the slowdown in core revenue.

Investments in business were ramped up across the segments through the year, driving a 27% growth in operating costs. In News business, scaling up of editorial team and content coverage were the main drivers of increase in costs. In the Entertainment business, investments were primarily focussed on expanding and improving content offering. Viacom18 scaled up Sports and Digital verticals, which continued to be in an investment phase. Soft revenue environment, along with an increase in costs and investments in new initiatives, dragged down the profitability of the Group. Increase in borrowing was primarily driven by Viacom18.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Particulars	Standalone			Consolidated
	FY 2022-23	FY 2021-22	YoY%	FY 2022-23	FY 2021-22	YoY%
SUMMARY P&L
Operating Revenue	1,252	1,262	-1%	5,912	5,526	7%
Operating Expenses	1,181	1,001	18%	5,718	4,488	27%
Operating EBITDA	70	262	-73%	194	1,039	-81%
Other Income	76	50	52%	126	75	68%
Finance Cost	37	30	23%	116	38	205%
Depreciation	56	51	11%	123	113	8%
Profit of JV / associates			45	54	-16%
Profit Before Tax	53	231	-77%	127	1,016	-88%
Tax	-5	58	NM	-1	90	NM
Profit after Tax	58	173	-66%	128	926	-86%
Non-Controlling Interest			12	342	-97%
PAT after Minority interest	58	173	-66%	116	585	-80%
KEY RATIOS
Current Ratio	1.59	1.60	0%	1.32	2.13	-38%
Debt Equity Ratio	0.16	0.22	-26%	0.88	0.14	533%
Interest Coverage Ratio	2.67	9.83	-73%	2.23	37.73	-94%
Debtors Turnover Ratio	2.72	2.59	5%	5.09	4.76	7%
Operating Profit Margin (%)	5.6%	20.7%	-73%	4.1%	19.8%	-80%
Net Profit Margin (%)	4.4%	13.1%	-67%	2.1%	16.5%	-87%
Return on Net worth (%)	1.9%	5.6%	-67%	2.5%	12.3%	-80%

Due to rounding, numbers presented in this table may not add up precisely to the totals provided and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures NM - Not Meaningful

Financials

^ Revenue grew by 7% YoY amidst a soft ad environment. Subscription revenue increased on account of Sports business. Movie business revenue grew as it recovered from the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.

^ Operating EBITDA declined to ? 194 crore as the Company made investments in new initiatives, leading to costs growing faster than revenue.

PAT (attributable to Owners) was ? 116 crore, down from last fiscal due to lower operating profit and higher finance costs.

Group debt increased to ? 4,132 crore in March 2023 from ? 667 crore in March 2022, to fund higher payouts for content by Viacom18, mainly sports, digital content and movies.

Ratios

^ Current Ratio is 1.32 compared to 2.13 in FY 2021-22, primarily as a result of increase in content inventory.

^ Debt-Equity Ratio increased to 0.88x from 0.14x last fiscal, as group debt increased.

^ Interest Coverage Ratio decreased to 2.2x from 37.7x last fiscal, due to higher interest rate environment and higher debt.

^ Debtors Turnover Ratio increased by 7% as receivables increased.

^ Operating Profit Margin reduced to 4.1% from 19.8% last fiscal, as operating profit decreased despite growth in revenue.

^ Net Profit Margin (attributable to Owners) decreased due to lower operating profit and high interest cost.

^ Return on Net Worth declined due to drop in Net Profit.

^ The details of changes in Key Financial Ratios are also disclosed in Standalone Financial Statement on page no 134.

GROWTH AND INNOVATION

Viacom18s Strategic Partnership with Reliance, Bodhi Tree Systems and Paramount Global Set to Propel it to the Next Level

Viacom18 announced on April 13, 2023 the completion of the transaction for strategic partnership with Reliance, Bodhi Tree Systems and Paramount Global. As part of this transaction, JioCinema app became a part of Viacom18 portfolio and will help it to play a leading role in Indias transformation to a streaming-first approach. It also gives Viacom18 access to ? 15,145 crore cash which will be instrumental in building a compelling content offering for consumers across the country. Media industry veterans, Uday Shankar and James Murdoch, will provide strategic and operational guidance to Viacom18 leveraging their track-record of building iconic media businesses. Paramount Global will continue as a shareholder and supply its premium global content.

This partnership will enable Viacom18 to transform itself into one of the largest TV and digital streaming companies in India. The M&E industry in India has a long runway for growth and has attracted interests of global players as well as spurred M&A activity from Indian peers. Digital business models are still evolving and continue to be a drag on the bottom line. To be a meaningful player in a landscape where consumers are spoilt for choice, one has to invest in content, distribution and technology. Viacom18 will now be able to make the right investments in high growth businesses - Digital, Sports, and Regional Entertainment. It will help Viacom18 scale up its content offering for both Digital and TV platforms to create a holistic offering for the diverse Indian audience. The Company believes that these investments will strengthen its competitive position across markets and make it future-ready.

Viacom18s Sports Streaming Broke New Frontiers

Viacom18s digital streaming of IPL created new viewership benchmarks on the opening weekend itself, drawing 100 mn+ new viewers. The platform delivered record-breaking 1.5 bn video views on the opening weekend and the number of digital viewers surpassed what was recorded across the complete season last year. JioCinema set a new record for the most installed app in a single day with 25 mn+ downloads. The platform also set a new benchmark for concurrent IPL viewership when 22 mn+ users simultaneously tuned-in on April 12, 2023. Technology innovations gave consumers an unforgettable experience on smartphones and connected TVs with never- seen-before features.

These include fan-centric features like 4K feed, 17 unique feeds, hype mode, instant replays, and multicam setup, among others. For the first time the event was brought to viewers in 12 most widely spoken languages across the country, including Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, and Oriya. In a unique initiative to increase the reach amongst both hardcore fans and casual viewers, four curated feeds were offered. Viacom18s coverage of FIFA World Cup 2022 and Women Premier League also set new benchmarks. With FIFA, digital reach for a marquee sports event crossed that of TVs for the first time in India, as 110 mn+ viewers tuned in to JioCinema. The grand finale witnessed a peak concurrency of 12.1 mn, highest for a non-cricket sports event. The final match of the inaugural season of Women Premier League (WPL) saw more than 10 mn viewers, the highest viewership for any womens event globally. The event also clocked more than 50 minutes of watch-time per user per match.

News Business Focussed on Convergence

In line with the changes in consumption patterns, the Group is working on a convergence approach to news gathering and distribution, to reach consumers in a native environment with minimal friction, on platforms of their choice. Our technology architecture will help tap the consumers across multiple touch points and enable better monetisation opportunities. Our focus is on building products which boost user engagement and is being driven by enterprise-wide solutions for unified and technological integrations across traditional and new formats. It is being supported by the hiring of leading talent from across the industry. We are also integrating processes for improved resource and content utilisation. These initiatives will also drive editorial consistency across all our formats and will enable the use of data signals to provide personalised experience. This convergence approach will help us become the platform of choice for consuming news.

OUTLOOK

The Indian M&E industry is poised for long-term growth driven by the secular trends of increasing demand for quality content and higher time spent on content consumption, across demographics. As per various reports, India is expected to be the fastest growing ad market globally, led by digital segment. As both domestic and global players compete for consumers share of time and money, competitive intensity is expected to remain elevated, which might also lead to an increased M&A activity in the sector.

While content will continue to reign supreme, distribution reach and superior user experience will be critical for onboarding and retaining consumers. As the digital ecosystem continues to mature, digital subscription market will also evolve towards increased adoption, enabling a concomitant growth in revenue. Macro-economic factors are on an improving trajectory on a YoY basis, and will play an important role in driving growth for the industry and the Company.

Our endeavour is to continually connect with our audience, through content that resonates with them. While TV18 has already established strong positions across multiple genres, it has potential for further growth through expanding its presence in new markets and increasing share in existing markets. All our businesses - entertainment, sports and news are poised for the next phase of growth, as a result of the investments we have made in building strong foundations in the year gone by. While digital will spearhead the growth for the Company going forward, we will continue to strengthen our TV portfolio. Focused on long-term growth, we will continue to make investments to further strengthen our position and simultaneously prepare for leveraging future growth opportunities.

OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW

NEWS - BROADCAST BUSINESS NEWS

CNBCTV 18

CNBC-TV18 has completed 23 years of success and excellence in the English Business News genre, cementing its position as the preferred choice for business and financial news. The channel has established absolute dominance with nearly 90% viewership share during the market hours. It has stayed true to its commitment of bringing cutting edge analysis, deep insights, and exclusive reportage to the audience with agility and innovation. An array of feature shows is specifically curated to cater to ever-evolving consumption preference of our viewer base. Coverage of Union Budget 2023 had some of the biggest industry experts, business tycoons, and seasoned investors, thereby reaffirming CNBC-TV18s position as Indias channel of choice. The brand also launched an initiative on gender parity, Future. Female. Forward - The Womens Collective, garnering the support of the most influential voices from across the globe towards this initiative.

CNBC-Awaaz

CNBC-Awaazs cutting edge content offering has been the driving force for making it the leading destination for Hindi viewers looking for financial news and opinions. It has been thriving with new content offerings and engaging campaigns, giving viewers multiple reasons to tune in to the channel every day. Major coverage on the channels included India@75 Amrit Manthan, Diwali and Mahurat trading, and Union Budget 2023, all of which saw some of the biggest industry experts, market veterans and corporate honchos sharing their views on the channel.

CNBC-Bajar

CNBC-Bajar is Indias first Gujarati business news channel. With its unique content mix and extensive ground reporting, it has established itself as the preferred channel for Gujarati speaking audience.

CNBCTV18.com

CNBCTV18.com doubled down on its core competencies of markets, personal finance and economy. It expanded the audience base by adding Hindi news, gaining foothold in nonEnglish markets. In line with the Networks vision of ramping-up video content, the platform launched a new vertical, CNBCTV18 Binge, which serves snackable videos across a wide spectrum of topics. A revamped product design, expanded coverage across categories like Sports, Auto, Education, Travel etc. and SEO optimisation, helped drive a 30% increase in traffic.

GENERAL NEWS

CNN-News18

Consistent with the brand tagline On Your Side, CNN-News18 ensured extensive and in-depth coverage of all major developments within the country and globally. With the most reliable and credible team of journalists, CNN-News18 became the No. 1 English General News channel in May 2022 and has consistently been a leader since then, achieving an incredible feat of being the #1 English General News channel for 50 weeks straight with 30%+ market share. Channels extensive coverage of major events like Assembly elections in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Union Budget, and G20 Summit, among others, powered the channels growth to leadership.

The channel also promoted social consciousness narrative through #InsureHappiness campaign to spread awareness on Ayushman Bharat Yojana. CNN-News18 Town Hall, a new platform for policy makers, opinion leaders and prominent voices to engage in meaningful conversations was launched in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. Additionally, CNN-News18 revived Indian of the Year, a platform to recognise unparalleled achievements of Indians across politics, entertainment, sports, business, and social service, among other fields.

News18 India

News18 India became the #1 Hindi News channel in July 2022 and continued to rule the charts for the rest of the year. The channel lined up extensive coverage and innovative programming for various state elections that happened last year, including anchoring counting day coverage from ground zero instead of the studio. Extensive coverage of all major news events was mounted from the location of the news event itself. The channel launched two new IPs - Amrit Ratna, to honour super achievers in their fields and Showreel, that brought together the biggest superstars of cinema and OTT on one platform. The channel executed multiple conclaves including its flagship News18 India Chaupal as well as Gujarat and Lucknow Adhiveshans.

The channel also won several prestigious awards during the year including ABBY Awards, ITA Awards, Promax, ENBA, NT Awards and ACEF, amongst many others. News18 India was the only Indian channel to win a trophy at Promax Asia this year.

News18 India had a 13.9% market share in HSM markets and 14.7% market share in HSM Metros.

REGIONAL NEWS News18 Regional Channels

Amongst our regional news channels, News18 Bihar/ Jharkhand, News18 Rajasthan and News18 MPCG became the consistent #1 channels in their respective markets and have maintained their positions through the year. News18 Punjab/Haryana was also the No. 1 channel for several weeks during the year.

News18 Jammu Kashmir Ladakh Himachal was launched in August 2022, becoming the first channel in the region by a national news network. It became the No. 1 news channel in the region within 6 weeks of its launch, helped by the extensive coverage of elections in Himachal Pradesh. News18 Punjab/Haryana led the way in innovation, converging its on- air and social media feeds. As Punjab dominated the news with several critical developments, this convergence led to a unified viewing experience across screens. News18 UP/ Uttarakhand, News18 Rajasthan, News18 MPCG stayed at the forefront of reporting key news stories in their respective states, which had massive impact on the ground. News18 Gujarati rose to leadership position in February 2023, driven by its impactful news programming. Our channels in other linguistic geographies - News18 Kannada, News18 Tamil Nadu, News18 Bangla, News18 Odia, News18 Assam, News18 Kerala, extensively covered developments relevant to the markets and continued to be instrumental in shaping the political discourse.

IPs like Rising Madhya Pradesh, Rising Chhattisgarh, Rising Uttarakhand, Jharkhand Samwaad, were executed which saw state Chief Ministers sharing their vision for states growth and development. Additionally, events such as Biznext, Young Entrepreneurs and Narayani Namah were also executed that recognised achievers from different cohorts in various states.

Several purpose-driven campaigns were also launched that dealt with issues such as road safety, water conservation, flood relief, drug addiction, cleanliness - issues that resonate strongly with viewers. Many of our initiatives along with our coverage and programming went i on to win accolades at various- industry forums with the channels winning awards at the ENBA, NT Awards, Future of News Awards, Indian Marketing Awards, ACEF and many more platforms.

With an engrossing line-up of distinctive programmes, Colors continued to entertain and engage its audience across demographics in the Hindi speaking markets. The channel increased its market share across full day and prime-time band, strengthening its #2 position in the genre.

Khatron Ke Khiladi and Bigg Boss 16 were the top two Hindi non-fiction shows of the year. Bigg Boss delivered 75% higher viewership than the previous season with weekday viewership growing 95%. The channel also launched new fiction shows during the year to strengthen its weekday viewership.

Colors Rishtey continued to broadcast re-run content curated from network library. The channel exited from DD FreeDish platform in April 2022 to help strengthen networks subscription proposition. Colors Rishtey was the #2 channel in non-primetime viewership amongst its peers.

Colors Cineplex, Colors Cineplex Superhits and Colors Cineplex Bollywood

Colors Cineplex entertained viewers with a mix of popular Hindi and dubbed movies. The channel saw a substantial increase in viewership share during the year, driven by its airing of 20 world television premieres and sports properties like Road Safety World Series Season 2, Abu Dhabi T10.

Viacom18 consolidated its movie channels under the Colors Cineplex umbrella as it rebranded Rishtey Cineplex (FTA channel) to Colors Cineplex Superhits. With a brand promise of Superrr Hai, the channel has been showcasing blockbuster movies across action, comedy, horror, romance, and drama genres. Along with the other FTA channel, Colors Cineplex Bollywood, Viacom18 maintained its share in the genre despite the other three major broadcasters losing market share.

REGIONAL ENTERTAINMENT

Colors Kannada, Colors Super, Colors Kannada Cinema

Colors Kannada was the #2 entertainment channel in the genre, offering Kannadigas across the world quality programmes that reflect the rich culture of the region. The channel launched fiction shows such as Olavina Nildana, Kendasampige, Bhagyalakshmi and non-fiction shows like Bigg Boss Kannada, Raja Rani Season 2, Nannamma Superstar 2.

The channel premiered blockbuster movie 777 Charlie and other movies like Madhagaja, Bairagee and Vedha. It also hosted popular events such as Anubandha Awards 2022, and Colors Ganeshotsava. Colors Kannada improved its market share to 23.5% for the year.

Colors Super, Viacom18s second Kannada GEC continues to entertain Kannada speaking audiences with its curated content line-up.

Colors Kannada Cinema is a family entertainment movie channel that has ushered in a fresh in-home cinematic experience for Kannada speaking audience.

Colors Marathi

Colors Marathi exited the year as the #2 channel in the Marathi GEC space with a market share of 16%. Iconic mythological shows - Balumamachya Navan Changbhala and Jai Jai Swami Samartha were the top performing shows. The channel launched five fiction shows and two non-fiction shows - Sur Nava Dhyas Nava and Bigg Boss Marathi - All is well during the year. Events such as Colors Marathi Awards 2023 helped the channel establish a strong connect with its consumers.

Colors Tamil

Colors Tamil, launched in February 2018, is the youngest regional entertainment channel in Viacom18 portfolio and offers a content mix of movies, dubbed shows and sports broadcast of properties such as SA20 and WPL in Tamil language.

KIDS ENTERTAINMENT

Our portfolio of kids channels continued to command a genre leading market share of 31% with channels catering to kids across age groups. Our channels are available in multiple languages - Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, making them accessible to young audience across the country.

Nick has established an inarguable legacy, being the #1 channel for nine years in row. It is home to some of the best content for kids, featuring chartbuster shows such as MotuPatlu, Rudra, and Golmaal Jr.

Sonic serves its young viewers the right combination of action and comedy content, featuring home-grown shows such as Pakdam Pakdai and The Bhoot Bandhus.

Nick Jr is aimed at young parents and pre-schoolers with internationally acclaimed shows such as Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, and Masha and the Bear, curated by academicians and kids experts.

Nick HD+ showcases a wide array of content from the international library of Nickelodeon including shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, Kung Fu Panda, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, among others.

YOUTH and MUSIC

MTV, Indias #1 youth entertainment brand, is a dynamic and vibrant melting pot of music and pop culture. The channel continued its strong line-up of successful shows including, Roadies, Splitsvilla X4, EX or NEXT, and Hustle 2.0. MTV launched a channel on YouTube, #FullyFaltoo, which published 4,500 videos and garnered 2.8 mn+ subscribers. MTVs branded content arm, MTV Brand Studio, continued to explore edgy and quirky branded content in collaboration with leading brands like Hyundai, HP, Airbnb, Nescafe, and LinkedIn, among others.

MTV Beats is a 24x7 contemporary music channel with a strong focus on Bollywood music. The channel is home to some of the most entertaining shows such as Artist of the Month, Dil Beats, and Teri Meri Baatein.

ENGLISH ENTERTAINMENT

Viacom18s English portfolio leads the English entertainment space, enjoying 97% share of viewership.

Comedy Central, the #2 channel in the category, is a one-stop destination for some of the best sitcoms and international shows like The Office, Brooklyn 99, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Two and A Half Men,The Graham Norton Show, and many more.

Colors Infinity has a mix of international content such as Shark Tank, and Law & Order, among others, and original production shows like The inventor Challenge.

Vh1 is the #1 channel in the category and continues to be the most preferred English music destination for Indian youth to stay up-to-date with the latest and best International and Indie music, pop-culture, and lifestyle trends.

Viacom18 launched its TV sports portfolio in April 2022 with three channels - Sports18 1 (SD, HD) and Sports18 Khel (FTA channel). Prior to this launch, Voot and MTV were the networks sports destinations. During the year, Viacom18 Sports became the new home of several marquee sports properties with media rights of IPL, FIFA World Cup 2022, Women Premier League, Cricket South Africa, Olympics 2024, SA20, FIH (Federation of International Hockey), and MotoGP, among others. This complemented other sports properties NBA, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, whose rights were already with the network.

IPL streaming on JioCinema had 17 feeds across 12 languages and a host of unique features like Hype Mode and multi-camera viewership angles. The opening weekend of IPL garnered 1.5 bn video views with the opening match recording a peak concurrency of 18 mn+.

Viacom18s digital streaming of FIFA World Cup 2022 became the most viewed non-cricket sports property in India on digital. The digital streaming of the event was a resounding success with the final match garnering over 32 mn viewers. The first edition of Womens Premier League was the most viewed womens sporting event globally, with the final viewed by more than 10 mn viewers.

History TV18

History TV18 has been at the forefront of delivering quality factual entertainment to Indian audiences. Its flagship show, OMG! Yeh Mera India, launched the ninth season, cementing its status as one of the most successful shows in the genre. Digital-first franchise, #Roadtrippin, continued to be popular with viewers, completing 13 successful seasons across various locations in India. Our digital and television platforms leveraged their vast reach to bring attention to stories of national significance like Lal Qiley se Goonj and The Vial: Indias Vaccine Story. The channel also leveraged the content library of A&E Network with shows like Historys Greatest Mysteries with Laurance Fishburne and Historys Greatest Escapes with Morgan Freeman.

DIGITAL

Viacom18 Digital Ventures is a key driver of Viacom18s future growth agenda and caters to the entertainment needs of the discerning viewer through a diverse content offering.

Voot

Voot continued to be one of Indias eminent advertising-led OTT platform. With a library of around 75,000+ hours of Viacom18 network content, exclusive content created around network shows, and Voot Originals, the platform caters to varying needs of discerning audience across segments. Voot was the #2 broadcaster-OTT in terms of time spent per day. With ~1.5 bn views and ~25 bn watch-time, Bigg Boss S16 delivered 60% higher consumption vis-a-vis the previous season. Interactivity features like Voot pe vote and Boss Quiz witnessed strong participation from more than 1 mn unique users.

SVOD product, Voot Select, continued to have a strong presence in Hindi and used the network strengths to become a dominant player in Kannada market. Platform watch-time witnessed a 40%+ YoY growth. Exclusive content experiences built around impact shows like Bigg Boss (Hindi, Kannada Marathi), drove a strong growth in engagement. The platform also launched original shows like Apharan S2, Bandon Mein Tha Duml, CodeM, The Gone Game Season 2, The Great Weddings of Munnes, Aadha Ishq, and London Files, among others. It was also the home of some of the most popular non-scripted international shows like Shark Tank S14, Bigg Brother Australia S13, Temptation Island S3, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and The Offer. Continuing the success of previous year, Voot Select witnessed robust growth in active subscribers.

JloCInema

JioCinema

JioCinema became part ofViacom18 portfolio in April 2023. As the digital streaming destination for IPL, FIFA World Cup 2022, Women Premier League and other sports properties, the platform registered a sharp jump in reach and engagement. It also created history becoming the first app to be downloaded more than 25 mn times in a single day. IPL streaming on JioCinema had 17 feeds across 12 languages and a host of unique features like Hype Mode and multi-camera viewership angles, which helped setting several new benchmarks. The opening weekend of IPL garnered 1.5 bn video views and 50 mn+ app downloads, with the opening match recording a peak concurrency of 18 mn+.

Viacom18s digital streaming of FIFA World Cup 2022 became the most viewed non-cricket sports property in India on digital. The digital streaming of the event was a resounding success with the final match garnering over 32 mn viewers. The first edition of Womens Premier League was the most viewed womens sporting event globally, with the final viewed by more than 10 mn viewers.

Along with sports, JioCinema is also curating a compelling slate of entertainment content to become the leading OTT platform in the country.

CONTENT CREATION AND PRODUCTION

VI3COM

Viacom 18 Studios

Viacom18 Studios completed 13 years of excellence, successfully producing and distributing iconic Hindi and regional films. Along with 65+ Hindi and 30+ regional films, it has distributed ~70 Hollywood titles in India.

During the year, the studio collaborated with some of the best producers, directors, and actors in the industry. It released successful films such as Jugjugg Jeeyo and Govinda Naam Mera, through its association with Dharma Productions. Top Gun: Maverick, one of the most successful movies of the year, was distributed in India by Viacom18 Studios. Shabaash Mithu and Laal Singh Chaddha were the other movies produced and distributed during the year.

l ipping Point

Tipping Point

Tipping Point, Viacom18 Studios digital content production arm, was incubated with the intent of creating compelling and subject-driven content for digital platforms. She Season 2 and Jamtara Season 2, both of which were produced for Netfiix, earned critical success.

LICENSING AND MERCHANDISING

Viacom18 Consumer Products is one of the leading players in the small but fast-evolving licensing and merchandising business. With a diverse portfolio of brands, its mission is to create a unique experience across ages by bringing Viacom18s favourite brands to life through innovative merchandise options.

Some ofthe iconic and popular brands for merchandising include Dora the Explorer, Paw Patrol, MTV, Roadies, Garfield, COLORS, and Nickelodeon. It also has a growing portfolio of third-party brands such as Peppa Pig, PJ Masks and Masha and the Bear, Ben and Holly. As part of the licensing tie-up for the film Bhediya, apparel and accessories were launched by merchandising partners on its website. Experiential project gained momentum with the launch of six Roadies Koffeehouz and one Club Roadies!

CONTENT ASSET MONETISATION

In the domestic markets, IndiaCast manages distribution of linear channels of Viacom18, TV18, and AETN18, across various platforms such as cable, DTH, HITS, IPTV, and Digital (OTT/ Telcos). It also ensures best-in-class availability and reach of all channels by strategically managing key aspects of carriage and placement.

In the international markets, IndiaCast not just manages distribution of TV channels but also monetises the Groups rich content library in 35+ languages, including English, Spanish, Russian, Hebrew, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Macedonian, Kazakh, and Swahili.

BUSINESS STEWARDSHIP

At TV18, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is embedded into the Groups long-term business strategy. The Companys community initiatives help elevate the quality of life for millions, especially the disadvantaged sections of society. The Company undertook some socially relevant programmes during the year:

Mission Swachhta Aur Paani - The second season of TV18s largest initiative, Mission Paani, pivoted to Mission Swachhta Aur Paani. Stories of water conservation, hygiene and sanitation took centre stage throughout the season, focussing on the great precedence being set by the North-Eastern states. These stories were amplified across our TV, Digital and Social media platforms. The initiative upheld the cause of inclusive sanitation where everyone has access to clean toilets, culminating with an 8-hour long telethon on World Toilet Day to mobilise Indians and raise awareness for better sanitation practices.

Future.Female.Foward, A Womens Collective - CNBC TV18 embarked on a new journey, charting a path of gender parity, focussing on the status of women representation across industries and sectors, while celebrating the women champions across different spheres. The theme of making gender parity, an inevitable reality, was taken to the World Economic Forum 2023 in Davos, where leaders from across the globe wore FFF batches as a token of support for the cause. In March 2023, one of the biggest summits on gender parity was organised, mobilising leaders from across industries.

Sadak Suraksha Abhiyaan is an initiative with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, to educate the masses and inculcating a sense of responsibility towards human life and creating safe roads. A comprehensive campaign on raising awareness around these issues concluded with a 4-hour special telethon, helmed by Actor Amitabh Bachchan and Honble Minister Nitin Gadkari, highlighting the importance of Safe Roads for the worlds fastest growing economy.

Reliance Foundation acts as the funnel through which the TV18 reaches out to empower people and deepen its social engagements. During the year under review, TV18 through Reliance Foundation engaged in CSR activities in various areas like healthcare and other preventive healthcare initiatives, Sustainable livelihood programme and providing educational support.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

FY 2022-23 was a year of introspection and agenda setting for your Company. As the world recovered from the impact of COVID and the industry witnessed an accelerated transformation in the content creation, distribution and consumption value chain, your company gathered the learnings and focused on agenda setting for the next cycle of strategic growth.

Business Transformation and Digital Pivot

The Company has embarked on a journey of transformation, which will enable it to acquire leadership position as a content platform across mediums - broadcasting, digital and print. The Company believes that with the rapidly expanding digital play, it should be at the forefront of providing its consumers content of their choice, at the time of their choice, and on the device of their choice. To facilitate the same, we have started creating an organisation design and structure, breaking down previously existing boundaries and rethinking the processes, systems and workflows. Services of domain experts are also being deployed to assist in this transformation.

This entire structural transformation is being done while ensuring that the business continuity and productivity do not suffer. Comprehensive communication and change management initiatives form the supporting pillars of this transformation.

Talent Acquisition

With the pandemic-induced digital pivot and the corresponding demand-supply mismatch, there was an intensified competition for certain talent pools, especially in the areas of technology, data science and product. The Company doubled down on its efforts to meet the talent requirements through expansion of its selection sources, including an increase in the number of education campuses, cities and demographics targeted for hiring. The Company continues to draw the best editorial and content talent from the premier institutions in the country and last year saw the highest ever intake of trainees and freshers through its campus recruitment programme. The Company also conducted a massive outreach programme to recruit talent from smaller cities. Coupled with recruitment of experienced talent hired from across the industry helped us tide over the talent crisis. Your organisation also invested in hiring leadership talent in high-impact roles to add capabilities with an eye on the future.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Company believes that having a diverse workforce has a direct and disproportionate impact on improving productivity and business performance. A workplace teeming with people from diverse backgrounds, gender, sexual orientation, and geographies allows for improved flow of ideas, innovation, awareness and creativity - thereby leading to balanced decision making, higher output and enhanced reputation.

The Company undertook several measures to enhance diversity, such as ensuring sufficient representation of women in selection pools, in addition to improving supporting work policies, infrastructure and environment. As an outcome of these efforts, we onboarded the highest numbers of women, as a percentage of total new hires, in our workforce this year, led by the campus hiring process which saw more women candidates being selected.

Multiple diversity and inclusion initiatives, based on the 5-E Framework adopted by the Group - Educate, Encourage, Enable, Experience and Effectiveness, were undertaken through the course of the year.

Learning and Development

While virtual learning continued strong, second half of the year saw a resumption of the traditional formats of talent development like classroom and physical learning programmes. Continual and contextualised skill development through a combination of e-learning and instructor-led virtual learning as well as physical programmes helped us build our internal talent capabilities.

With technology driving rapid evolution of the content production and consumption patterns across various demographics, the Company is aware of the opportunity to train and upskill our existing talent base to create content in more engaging and efficient ways for various medium (broadcast/print/ digital) and monetise the same. Growth of digital consumption presents opportunity to upskill employees not exposed to digital so far and your Company is undertaking comprehensive initiatives to facilitate this upskilling of talent to create a winning situation for both employees and the organisation.

Employee Engagement and Well-being

The Company continued to extend measures to ensure employee health and well-being. Mental health counselling facilities, online health sessions, multiple health check-up camps and education mailers were some of the measures undertaken.

Employee engagement

The Company strives to maintain high employee engagement levels, while delivering the highest standards of employee experience. To improve employee listening, the Company rolled out an employee engagement measurement platform to assess engagement health across multiple parameters. Our surveys affirm high levels of employee engagement and your Company continues to identify and execute initiatives to further improve the same.

Beyond these, the Company continues to retain its focus on building a culture of empowerment, collaboration, fairness, growth-focused and caring mindset, while persistently improving internal service, recognising and rewarding deserving and performing talent to motivate and retain them.

As of March 31, 2023, there were 4,246 employees on the rolls of the Company.

On-roll employee count	March 31, 2022	March 31,2023
TV18 Broadcast Limited	3,907	4,246

RISK MANAGEMENT

TV18 maintains a robust system of internal controls, commensurate with the size and complexity of its business operations. The system provides, inter alia, a reasonable assurance of protection against any probable loss of the Companys assets from misuse of power by those in positions to influence the working of business verticals in the organisation. These processes ensure that each transaction in business operations is recorded in a fair and transparent manner. The Internal Audit Cell, as a part of its regular audit process, regularly carries out an assessment of the effectiveness of risk management processes and provides assurance to the Audit Committee. Internal audit also ensures that laws as applicable are being complied with in true spirit.

TV18s key risks and responses are discussed below:

Content and Brand Risk

Success in the media business, both news and entertainment, is primarily dependent upon the choice of subject matter and its treatment. Consumer preferences keep evolving continually, with changes clearly visible only over a long term, making it difficult to accurately predict the probability of future success.

Revenues from any content are directly linked to viewership and audience interest and hence, there is a risk of revenue loss in case majority of viewers in the target group do not sample the content or reject the content. Also, consumers associate the different brands of TV18 with certain types of content and if an event harms any brand of TV18, it can lead to an undesirable impact on its business. To mitigate these risks, the group actively tracks the salience of its content through on-ground studies, analysis of viewership and online traffic data, feedback on social media platforms and gathering feedback on brand perception. The Company has a diversified presence in multiple languages and genres, making the probability of simultaneous failure across all markets, a low probability event. The strength of TV18s brands is one of its biggest assets and the groups success depends upon the popularity, recognition, and salience of its brands.

Technology Risk

The pace of technological development has accelerated over the past few years across all businesses, especially in the media sector as new business models have evolved, changing the shape and form of viewing habits. The entire content value chain - content gathering solutions, production techniques, and distribution platforms, are being increasingly driven or heavily influenced by technology, thereby creating a direct impact on content presentation , working efficiencies and operational costs. The pace of change of technology creates a challenge for the business to remain a breast with the latest advancements and identify the most suitable technical solutions for the business. TV18 group has been continually investing in upgrading its systems, both consumer interface as well as internal portals, in line with the latest developments. It is also recruiting technically proficient personnel, engaging leading technology vendors, and continually training its workforce to keep up with the changes.

Cybersecurity Risk

The pace of growth of digital economy in the current decade has enabled cyber criminals across the globe to hack into sensitive IT infrastructure through phishing and other malpractices. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated adoption of digital technology, making companies more vulnerable to cybercrimes. The Company regularly undertakes improvement programs to ensure that digital transformation incorporates next generation cyber security architecture with prevention, detection and correction capabilities to protect against invasive threats. The IT security landscape is being aligned with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines to remain safe, competitive, efficient and responsive. Additionally, periodic audits by both internal and external teams helps to plug any gaps. The organisation is ISO 27001-2013 certified and endorses IT Security framework.

Regulatory and Compliance Risk

The Indian regulatory landscape for Media industry is continually undergoing transformations across a multitude of areas, including distribution, taxation, content censoring, etc. Further, reporting requirements under SEBI, MCA and Taxation laws have increased manifold over the past few years. Any change in regulation by the industry regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) or the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) requires a proactive alignment of corporate performance objectives while ensuring compliance with new requirements. TV18 has a well-qualified and experienced team of professionals across the compliance landscape, who have helped the Company successfully navigate the challenges presented by regulatory changes. The Company has a comprehensive and digitally enabled compliance management framework, which keeps continually expanding in scope to incorporate any new regulatory changes in a timely manner and helps integrate these changes with business strategy, compliance, and control processes.

Market Confidence and Reputation Risk

Inability to effectively engage with stakeholders on an ongoing, transparent, and consistent basis may result in poor market perception and weak investor confidence. Unfair conduct of employees to benefit themselves using the Companys platform may also result in loss of reputation. TV18 has put in place processes for regular communication with analysts and investors for resolution of queries and grievances. An efficient communication system supports and explains corporate announcements and actions while the Companys code of conduct policy provides detailed guidance on disclosures and situations depicting conflict of interest. The organisation has a zero-tolerance policy towards unfair conduct or fraud.

Financing Risks

Most of the Companys debt is in the form of short-term debt from capital markets. This exposes the Company to the risk of non-availability of external capital due to macro factors such as liquidity, volatility in interest rates, and general economic environment. The Company continually monitors funding requirements, evaluates market conditions, and engages with multiple financial institutions to mitigate the risk of capital inadequacy.

Human Resource Risk

Talented human resource is the backbone of any industry, and especially for M&E industry. The Companys ability to operate its business and implement its strategies depends, in part, on the continued contributions of its executive officers and other key employees, who may be difficult to replace, retain or recruit amidst intense competition or due to scarcity of skilled individuals. To attract and retain top talent, TV18 has built an agile and integrated organisational design, supported by streamlined work processes and people policies, that support growth, learning and development.

INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEMS

TV18 has exhaustive internal control systems aligned with its business requirements. The Company regularly monitors risks and has in place focused risk mitigation strategies. Internal financial controls have been embedded into business processes. Additionally, internal and external audit teams continually monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control environment across the Company and the status of compliance with standard operating procedures, internal policies, and regulatory requirements. The Audit Committee meets periodically to review the adequacy and efficacy of these control systems.