Reliance Media business’ FY24 revenue up by 49%  

Reliance Industries' media business grew by 49% on the back of sports and news. The company’s revenues reached Rs 10,826 crore in FY24 as compared to Rs 7,266 in FY23. 

As per the company’s statement, News business revenue was up 19% year-on-year. Sports was the biggest driver of revenue growth for Viacom18 while the news revenue growth was driven by both TV networks and digital platforms. Viacom18 revenue was up 62% year-on-year. 

“The businesses made significant investments during the year in scaling up its new verticals, Sports and Digital. Sports properties like IPL, BCCI cricket series, SA20, and others, helped Viacom18 significantly ramp up its presence in the sports segment. The Group also increased its investments in Digital platforms, both news and entertainment, driving strong growth for JioCinema, Moneycontrol, and News18 platforms. The increased investments had an impact on EBITDA for the year,” says the company. 

4Q FY24 vs 4Q FY23 

Media business recorded a strong operating and financial performance across verticals during the quarter. Revenue from operations was up by 63.0% Y-o-Y to Rs 2,419 crore, driven by Sports, Movies, and News verticals. 

“Viacom18’s revenue grew 83% year-on-year led by Sports and Movies segments. Sports revenue growth was primarily driven by 13 IPL matches held during the quarter, as the tournament kicked off earlier this year. The release of 'Fighter', the biggest movie of 2024 so far, drove the growth in the Movies segment. The advertising revenue on TV networks also delivered strong growth on the back of robust viewership share,” says the company. 

Meanwhile, TV network share increased by 70 bps quarter-on-quarter to 11.4%, driven by the strong performance of Hindi GEC, Movie, and Sports portfolio. 

JioCinema’s reach registered a 50% increase on the back of IPL 2024 with 11.3 crore viewers on the opening day. 

“ WPL saw 3x growth in watch-time with 70% higher reach compared to the first season,” it added.