Adani Group seeks govt's nod to launch 9 NDTV channels

The board of directors of New Delhi Television (NDTV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Gautam Adani-led Adani Group, has approved the proposal to launch nine news channels in different Indian languages, the company informed stock exchanges on Wednesday.

"The Board of Directors of New Delhi Television Limited ("the Company") at its meeting held today i.e. May 17, 2023, has approved a proposal to seek the permission of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for the launch of nine (9) news channels in different Indian languages in phases," the company said in a statement.

With this, the company is now seeking approval from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, following which it will intimate the bourses on the launch date of the said channels.

The development comes months after Adani Group's indirect takeover of NDTV in August last year, through AMG Media Networks Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the port-to-energy conglomerate.

The contentious nail-biting events which dragged on for months, also witnessed resignations by NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy as directors on the board of RRPR Holding Pvt. Ltd., the promoter entity of NDTV. In November, RRPR Holding, the promoter entity of NDTV, transferred 99.5% of its equity share capital to Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt. Ltd. (VCPL), which is owned by AMG Media Network Ltd. (AMNL).  As of March 2023, Adani Group holds a 69.71% stake in NDTV, according to stock exchange data. 

Following the development, shares of NDTV surged as much as 1.9% on Thursday to hit an intraday high of ₹176.15 apiece on the BSE. The scrip opened at ₹172.85, similar to the closing price of the previous session. At 12:47 pm, the stock slumped 0.6% to ₹172.75. During the session, the company’s market capitalisation stood at ₹1,113.74 crore, with 3,414 shares exchanging hands on the BSE against the two-week average of 0.19 lakh shares. NDTV shares are trading 69.57% lower than the 52-week high of ₹567.85, which the company touched on September 6, last year. The shares are trading 15.47% higher than the 52-week low of ₹149.60, which the company touched on May 26, last year.

In the March quarter, NDTV's profit plunged 97.6% to ₹59 lakh as against ₹24.16 crore in the same period last year on weak advertising demand. The company's revenue from operations also plunged 35.5% to ₹67 crore during the quarter under review as against ₹104 crore in the March quarter of FY22. The media firm cited a "slowdown in advertising spending globally" as the reason behind a drop in revenue for the March quarter.