Network18 Group

Network18 Media & Investments Limited, informally referred to as the Network18 Group, is an Indian media and entertainment group.[4] The group was founded and majority owned by Raghav Bahl in 1993, after India liberalised its economy and media ownership laws in early 1990s. In the 2000s, the Group grew into one of the largest collection of media properties in India through debt financing and international licensing deals with global media brands.[5][6] By late 2011, according to a LiveMint article, the Network18 group had amassed a large debt, was running in loss and banks were unwilling to lend the group additional capital.[5] Bahl's Network18 group sought capital from the Reliance Industries in 2012, then closed loss-making ventures, laid off employees, and trimmed the size of the Group over the next two years. On 29 May 2014, under the terms of its 2012 financing, Reliance Industries took over the Network18 empire to integrate it with its 4G, Jio wireless content-distribution strategy.[5][6][7][8] The Group's leadership team is headed by chairperson Adil Zainulbhai and managing director Rahul Joshi in 2019.[2]

Network18 Media & Investments Limited
Public company
Traded as
IndustryMass media
Founded1993 (1993)
HeadquartersMumbai, Maharashtra, India
Key people
Rahul Joshi (MD)
Products
Revenue₹51.16 billion (US$720 million) (2019)[1]
₹-3.03 billion (US$−42 million) (2019)[1]
OwnerReliance Industries
Number of employees
3,000[2]
Divisions
Websitewww.network18online.com

At its peak, the Network18 Group has included media and internet-based media outlets such as in.com, IBNlive.com, Moneycontrol.com, Firstpost.com, Cricketnext, Homeshop18, bookmyshow.com, print magazines such as Forbes India and Overdrive, TV channels such as Colors and some in partnership with international media groups such as NBC, CNN, IBN7, MTV, Nickelodeon, and CNBC.[5][6] According to Network18 Group's 2018 annual report, it had 700 million (700 million) viewers, employed 1,200 journalists for sourcing content, 3,000 employees on its payroll, and 20 television channels in 15 Indian languages.[2]

History

The company was incorporated as a private limited company on 16 February 1996. In April 2006, the name was changed from SGA Finance and Management Services Private Limited to Network18 Fincap Private Limited and subsequently in November 2006, it was converted into a Public Limited company. Network18 got listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange on 2 February 2007. The shares of the company of face value of ₹5 each opened at ₹312.10 at the NSE and at ₹300 at the BSE. The same year in December, its name was changed from Network18 Fincap Limited to Network18 Media & Investments Limited.

The Network 18 Group announced a restructuring plan to create a two listed entity structure for the group in July 2010. The restructuring became effective on 10 June 2011 with the approval of the Delhi High Court and the group successfully completed the re-alignment of its business operation into 2 sections – Network18 and TV18. Network18 undertakes the digital and publishing side of the business and TV18 contains the television assets of the group.[9]

In Jan 2012, there was a large investment by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries in a complex deal that offered a possibility that Ambani-held Independent Media Trust (IMT) might eventually gain a controlling interest.[10] In July 2014, the ownership was transferred to Independent Media Trust. On 29 May 2014, RI announced it would be acquiring control in Network 18 Media & Investments Ltd, including its subsidiary TV18 Broadcast Ltd. The board of RI approved funding of up to ₹40 billion (40 billion) to Independent Media Trust (IMT), of which RI is the sole beneficiary, for acquisition of control in Network 18 and its subsidiaries.[11] On 8 July 2014, RI stated that it has completed the Network18 take-over.[12]

In 2015 Network 18 under ownership of Reliance Industries took over ETV Network for about ₹20.53 billion deal.[13]

TV 18

TV18 Broadcast Limited is the broadcasting arm of Network18. TV18 operates India's largest selection of News channels across 15 language and 26 states; with channels like CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz in Business News and CNN News18, News18 India in General News. Through its JV Viacom18, it also operates a number of entertainment channels across genres, including leading premium local channels like Colors, Nickelodeon and MTV. A subsidiary of TV18, the network operates a selection of 13 regional news channels under the News18 brand name. TV18 also operates a joint venture with the Lokmat Group which houses the Marathi news channel News18 Lokmat. To cover the global audience & sizable NRI population, TV18 operates News18, a twenty-four-hour television news channel designed to give the world largest democracy, the latest news.

Television channels

Network 18 operates the following channels.

Category Sub-Categories Channel Language Region

News Channels(20)

 Business News Channels(4)


CNBC TV18EnglishIndia
CNBC TV18 Prime HD
CNBC AwaazHindi
CNBC BajarGujaratiGujarat, India
General News Channels(3) CNN News18EnglishIndia
News18 IndiaHindi
News18 UrduUrdu
Regional News Channels(13) News18 LokmatMarathiMaharashtra, India
News18 RajasthanRajasthani, HindiRajasthan, India
News18 Uttar Pradesh UttarakhandHindiUttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand, India
News18 Madhya Pradesh ChhattisgarhMadhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, India
News18 Bihar-JharkhandBihar & Jharkhand, India
News18 GujaratiGujaratiGujarat, India
News18 BanglaBengaliWest Bengal, India
News18 OdiaOdiaOdisha, India
News18 KannadaKannadaKarnataka, India
News18 KeralaMalayalamKerala, India
News18 Tamil NaduTamilTamil Nadu, India
News18 Assam/North-EastAssamese, EnglishAssam, India
News18 Punjab-Haryana-HimachalPunjabi, HindiPunjab, Haryana & Himachal Pradesh, India
Upcoming Regional News Channels(3) News18 Goa English, KonkaniGoa, India
News18 Bharat HindiIndia
News18 J&K Kashmiri, HindiJammu & Kashmir, India
Entertainment(39) Hindi General Entertainment(3) ColorsHindiIndia
Colors HD
Colors Rishtey
Hindi Movies(2) Colors Cineplex
Colors Cineplex HD
Youth Channel(2) MTV IndiaHindi, English
MTV HD+
Music(4) MTV BeatsHindi
MTV Beats HD
VH1English
VH1 HD
English Entertainment(4) Comedy Central English
Comedy Central HD
Colors Infinity
Colors Infinity HD
Kids Entertainment(4) Nick HD+English, Hindi
Nickelodeon
Nick Jr.
Sonic
Factual Entertainment(4) History TV18
History TV18 HD
Shopping(2)
Regional Entertainment(14) Colors Marathi Marathi Maharashtra, India
Colors Marathi HD
Colors Kannada Kannada Karnataka, India
Colors Kannada HD
Colors Super
Colors Kannada Cinema
Colors Bangla Bengali West Bengal, India
Colors Bangla HD
Colors Bangla Cinema
Colors Odia Odia Odisha, India
Colors Gujarati Gujarati Gujarat, India
Colors Gujarati Cinema
Colors Tamil Tamil Tamil Nadu, India
Colors Tamil HD
Upcoming Channel(7) Colors Jazbaat Hindi India
Colors Jazbaat HD
Colors Rishtey HD
Colors Studio English
Colors Marathi Cinema Marathi Maharashtra, India
Colors Telugu Telugu Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, India
Colors Malayalam Malayalam Kerala, India
Colors Punjabi Punjabi Punjab, India

Network 18

Network 18's content includes news and entertainment, markets and finance, online shopping and ticketing, and mobile phone services and applications.

References
  1. Network18 Fourth Quatar Results, LiveMint (30 May 2019)
  2. Group Annual Report: 2018, Network18 Group, SEBI filings (2019), pages 2–4, 61 for current data; Network18 Group, About Us, Board and Management Team (15 May 2019)
  3. Corporate restructure complete for India’s Network18
  4. "Network18 Media & Investments Limited: Private Company Information". Bloomberg.
  5. Inside the Network18 takeover, Ashish Mishra, LiveMint (The Hindustan Times Gp), (25 Jun 2014)
  6. Reliance Takes Over Network18: Is This The Death Of Media Independence?, Forbes, Megha Bahree (30 May 2019)
  7. "My dream to own a newspaper is dead". The Financial Express. 30 September 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  8. Exits galore as RIL takes over Network18, LiveMint (30 May 2019)
  9. "Restructure complete for Network 18". rapidtvnews.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  10. Sandeep Bamzai (14 January 2012). "RIL deal-Network18: Is Mukesh Ambani the new media mogul?". India Today.Quote: the instrumentality ... is an optionally convertible debenture which has every possibility of turning into equity. Analysts say that going forward, Ambani will turn into a majority stake-holder of Network 18 and TV18 through this mechanism. On 29 May 2014, Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Industries (RI), purchased the company for a reported Rs. 40 billion
  11. "RIL to acquire control of Network 18, Rajdeep may go". HT Media Limited. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  12. "RIL completes Network 18 takeover". Patrika Group. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  13. "Network18 finishes Rs 2,053-cr deal to acquire ETV stakes". 10 February 2018 – via The Economic Times.
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