The company reported a steady second quarter, supported by growth across both digital and linear businesses.
“Television entertainment advertising sales continue to face pressure, mainly because FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) companies have cut spending. However, with the GST changes, we are seeing green shoots, and we expect the coming quarter to be stronger,” Vaz said during Reliance Industries’ second-quarter earnings call. “Sequential comparisons may not be ideal since the previous quarter included the IPL (Indian Premier League), but despite that, we have delivered stable revenue growth.”
Industry executives expect festive season advertising expenditure to rise, with incremental spends of around ₹5,400 crore projected as GST rationalisation revives consumer demand in FMCG, durables and automobiles.
For the quarter to September, JioStar reported revenue of ₹6,179 crore, with an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of 28.1%. EBITDA stood at ₹1,738 crore, while profit after tax was ₹1,322 crore. Vaz attributed the performance to cost control and balanced contributions from subscription and advertising across television and digital.
On the linear side, JioStar’s entertainment channels increased their viewership share by 0.3 percentage points to 34.5%. “Our viewership is now close to the combined share of the next three networks,” Vaz said.Linear television ad revenue grew in double digits quarter-on-quarter despite a subdued ad market. “We continue to push the linear business hard,” Vaz said.JioStar maintained 400 million monthly active users on its digital platform, JioHotstar, during the quarter. “We have managed to convert cricket viewers into entertainment viewers,” Vaz said. “Entertainment watch time grew 10% quarter-on-quarter, and digital ad sales showed strong momentum, led by connected TV, where revenue per user is much higher than on mobile.”
Vaz cited the platform’s entertainment slate as a key driver of engagement. “What the IPL is to cricket, Bigg Boss is to entertainment,” he said, adding that the reality show saw a 55% increase in watch time across multiple languages. Special Ops was the second most-watched series on the platform, behind Criminal Justice, and held the top spot for four consecutive weeks, he said.
The company’s long-format daily series model also delivered strong results. “Heartbeat, a Tamil show, ran for 100 episodes with daily drops, and we saw users coming back every day for 100 days. That is the kind of stickiness we want to replicate across markets,” Vaz said.
