Web18 Had Rs. 25 Crore In Revenue In 2006-07; Profitability And Use Case?

TV18 India MD Raghav Bahl tells Mint that Web18 did Rs. 25 crore in revenue, but doesn’t talk about whether it is profitable…Web18 must be burning some serious money adding portals, acquiring companies and expanding this fast – probably in preparation for the IPO which is rumored to be at the end of the year. At the same time, it’s important to note that the Web18 portals are heavily dependent on the TV18s TV channels for driving traffic; even if the money stays within the group, there is an opportunity cost attached to internal cross-media promotions. Bahl says that media companies in the west missed the web opportunity in the beginning, and TV18 doesn’t want that to happening to them. If that’s the case, then I don’t think it should be mostly about redistributing their content across various portals. What about the mobile opportunity?

In another story in the Mint supplement Campaign, an anonymous analyst feels that TV18 could unlock value by listing Web18, ala Naukri. Well, sites like Naukri, Shaadi and Bharatmatrimony cater to a significant need among users, and have probably added to the number of Internet users in India, rather than just catered to an existing Internet population. Which Web18 portal apart from moneycontrol (which is plugged to its TG every day, throughout the day on TV) does that? If anything, it’s the acquisitions like Bigtree Entertainment and Jobstreet that have use cases. That story in campaign also mentions that Capital18 has raised Rs. 100 crore to fund new initiatives in the new media and mobile consumer services space.

Disclaimer: I own an inconsequential number of shares of TV18

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