MUMBAI: HT Media?s FM radio broadcast and entertainment business has posted a profit of Rs 26.6 million before tax and interest for the third quarter ending 31 December compared to a loss of Rs 9.4 million in the same quarter last fiscal.

Revenue from radio segment jumped to Rs 213.5 million from Rs 172.7 million.

The company narrowed its loss from digital business to Rs 88.6 million from Rs 93.4 million in the previous fiscal. The company reported 18 per cent increase in revenues to Rs 138 million from Rs 117 million.

HT Media, which publishes Hindustan Times, has seen its profit from printing and publishing before tax and interest grow to Rs 837.8 million from Rs 790.7 million. Revenue from the segment has increased to Rs 5.1 billion from Rs 4.96 billion.

Net profit grew higher by 11 per cent to Rs 561 million from Rs 480.6 million. Total Income for the quarter rose 5 per cent to Rs 5.4 billion from Rs 5.2 billion.

Advertising growth during the quarter remained flat with a 2 per cent increase in advertising revenues of print segment to Rs 4.1 billion from Rs 4.0 billion primarily due to higher volumes.

Circulation revenue grew 12 per cent to Rs 565 million from Rs 503 million driven by higher circulation and realisation per copy.

Expenditure during the quarter grew to Rs 4.59 billion from Rs 4.46 billion. Consumption of raw materials declined to Rs 1.8 billion from Rs 1.86 billion due to lower consumption. Employee cost grew to Rs. 980 million from Rs. 936 million.

HT Media Chairperson and Editorial Director Shobhana Bhartia, ?We are pleased to report strong financial and operational performance this quarter. Our overall growth in revenue, combined with a persistent focus on cost optimisation, has resulted in a healthy improvement in profitability.

"This has been backed by the latest India Readership Survey, which has yet again confirmed our strong brand salience amongst English and Hindi dailies. We continue to expand our readership base in Mumbai and UP, and have retained our leadership positions in Delhi, Bihar and Jharkhand.

"In addition, our radio and digital businesses continue to deliver robust growth according to plans. We are confident that our strong and resilient business model, established brands and sustained focus on cost reduction will continue to create value and show even better results as the macro economic environment improves.?

The company has net cash of Rs 6 billion which is capable of supporting investments in growing businesses whilst exploring new opportunities.

NEW DELHI: Like in all other walks of life, women folks are increasingly catching up with men in media profession as well. In fact, it can be safely said that the fairer sex dominates media whether it be print, television channels, radio, and websites.

Addressing a panel discussion on ‘Sharing Experiences by Women in Media‘, organised by Ficci Ladies Organisation (FLO), NDTV Editorial Director Sonia Singh said almost 80 per cent of the workforce in her channel comprises women.

"In media, the divide is not between the two genders but between a parent and non-parent. The issue that comes to the fore is that a woman who has the responsibility of a child needs to maintain a balance between her home and office which can be challenging as the working hours in the media are erratic," Singh said.

Hindustan Times Editor HT City Sonal Kalra pointed out that there is only one male reporter in her team of 43 members which in itself explains how successful women are in media.

But the most vulnerable are the young girls who enter the profession as it looks glamorous from outside, and such myths and preconceived notions need to be dispelled. The young ladies must be groomed professionally and must be backed by the support and confidence of their superiors and the company.

Fortune India Senior Assistant Editor Sobha Menon said, "Behind the success of women a huge role is played by her family and husband. Women entrepreneurs are gaining ground in the media but they are dependent on family support to excel in the professional arena."

The discussion was moderated by Delhi Times senior editor and editor of the Times of India‘s Supplements in North India Anshul Chaturvedi, who said that in media a hierarchy is followed which is influence, visibility and money. It is seen that in the media women perform far better but their careers take a backseat in a family situation where they at times sacrifice their jobs for a male member of the family or for abiding by the decisions of the family.

FLO president Kavitha Varadaraj stated, "According to a report, at leadership positions women in media earn $20,000 more than their male counterparts and have so far performed better than the opposite sex."

Today the prominent media houses have women at the highest editorial positions and are the decision makers.

FLO Member & Garuda Advertising CMD Shilpi Arora emphasised that the mindset of the society needs to change with respect to women, and women must change their thought process which at times fosters narrow thinking.

MUMBAI: Continuing the trend from the preceding quarter, Dainik Jagran and The Times of India are the most read publications in the Hindi and English language dailies respectively, according to the IRS (Indian Readership Survey) first-quarter report released by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and Hansa Research.

Among the Hindi dailies, Dainik Jagran?s average issue readership (AIR) has surged marginally while second ranked Dainik Bhaskar has lost out on readers. Hindustan comes in on number three having increased its readership as has fourth place holder Amar Ujala.

There was no change in the pecking order of the Hindi dailies. Dainik Jagran?s AIR has grown marginally to 16.412 million in Q1 from 16.410 million in the previous quarter. Dainik Bhaskar (AIR of 14.55 million), Hindustan (12.16 million) and Amar Ujala (8.69 million) followed.

Among the English dailies, the Times of India continues to hold its numero uno position.

TOI has garnered a total AIR of 7.65 million, slightly lower than the trailing quarter report. It is followed by Hindustan Times (AIR of 3.81 million), which is maintaining its strong growth. The Hindu (AIR of 2.23 million) saw a marginal dip.

Economic Times and Mumbai Mirror swapped places from the previous quarter with AIR of 792000 and 777000 respectively.

In the regional dailies, Malayalam Manorama continues to top the chart, though it has experienced a slip in AIR from 99.37 million last quarter to 98.75 million in Q1 2012. The only change in the ranking from the previous quarter is the interchanging of ranks of Gujarat Samachar and Dinakaran with the latter slipping ground.

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has questioned the deals between the Commonwealth Games 2010 and certain media houses as the Organising Committee (OC) apparently resorted to pick-and-choose policy in the award of contracts worth over Rs 67.3 million.

The CAG in its report has dubbed the process arbitrary and biased. The OC considered proposals in an ad hoc manner and as and when they were received.

The CAG is more severe in its observations on the contract for creating a Games Time website, meant to put out real time information on sporting events, given to HT-Hungama - a consortium comprising Hindustan Times and Hungama. It has lambasted the process of awarding the contract to the consortium and said their work was deficient.
 
The website lacked speed and was not really updated with the latest information, the auditors said.

The website named Korea, Japan, Philippines and the US among the nations participating in the Games - but none of them did - and Commonwealth Games Federation head Mike Fennell went on record, saying that "there is certainly a big problem with the official Games Time website".

The report says a benevolent OC overlooked the non-performance and did not encash the performance guarantee of Rs 2.9 million. A contract in favour of HT-Hungama had no other provisions for penalties case of non-performance, the CAG said.

It said the bidding process was squeezed and completed within two months, leading to several irregularities. Among the three bidders, HT-Hungama‘s documentation was deficient but ignored by the technical committee. It led the CAG to conclude that the process was tailored in HT-Hungama‘s favour.

The contract for production and broadcasting of commercials was given to two news channels, CNN-IBN and NDTV. The CAG said the OC followed an arbitrary approach with no planning for specific channels, time slots and cost benefit analysis.