IPL franchise powers Sun TV’s FY24 revenue growth amid challenges in TV business

Sun TV Network’s revenue for the fiscal year 2023-24 experienced a significant boost, largely driven by its Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and its SA20 franchise, Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

The company’s revenue from cricket franchises surged by 138% to Rs 659 crore in FY24, up from Rs 276 crore in the previous year. The company’s consolidated revenue from operations surged 15% to Rs 4,787 crore, while net profit jumped 13% to Rs 1,925 crore.

This increase was fuelled by a rise in revenue from the central revenue pool, which was supported by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) record Rs 48,390 crore media rights deal with Disney Star and Viacom18 in 2022.

Sun TV’s annual report for FY24 highlighted that revenue contributions from its cricket franchises will continue to grow, supported by additional revenue streams from movie distribution in the coming years.

Income from movie distribution and sale of rights increased 24% to Rs 313 crore from Rs 253 crore.

Despite the success in its sports segment, Sun TV’s core broadcasting business faced challenges. Advertising revenue declined by 1.84% to Rs 1,493 crore, reflecting broader industry trends due to the shift of ad dollars to digital.In contrast, subscription revenue grew by 5.4% to Rs 1,814 crore, with the company noting that subscription revenues have now overtaken ad revenues. However, the base for ad revenue remains strong due to increased viewership.The reserve and surplus of the company as of March 31 stood at Rs 10,156 crore as against Rs 8,941 crore in the trailing fiscal.

During the year under review and as of the date of this report, the company has expanded its offerings by adding four new channels to its portfolio: Sun Marathi HD, Sun Bangla HD, Sun NEO, and Sun NEO HD. Sun NEO is a free-to-air Hindi general entertainment channel.

The company owns and operates 37 TV channels in seven languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bangla, Marathi, and Hindi. It also owns a streaming platform, Sun NXT, besides FM radio stations Red FM and Suryan FM.