NDTV is reining in its expenses for the next year as a result of the recession, according to a report from Reuters. Distribution expenditure, new equipment buys and launches of fresh channels will be hit, said NDTV’s chief executive officer KVL Narayan Rao, due to key advertisers in banking and financial, real estate, airline and the automotive sectors cutting down on investment in advertising to the channel. NDTV has reportedly said it does not have a significant capex for the next fiscal and is holding back expansion plans. Interestingly, there have been rumours about NDTV either shutting down or downsizing the operations of its Delhi focused channel MetroNation; there were reportedly in talks with BCCL (Times of India group) and HT Media for an investment or a strategic partnership. BCCL and HT Media have denied plans to invest in MetroNation. NDTV’s third quarter standalone earnings report showed a net loss of Rs 174.8 million over an income of Rs 818.4 million. Income for the quarter rose by 10.7 percent from Rs 739.1 million recorded last quarter. Expenses remained steady with increases in production and operational, administrative expenses while marketing expenses saw a reduction of 5.9 percent. A special employee bonus of Rs 0.5 million added to the expenses this quarter. NDTV posted earnings of Rs 2.79 a share during the quarter, a 29 percent rise from Rs 2.08 last quarter. Its consolidated net losses too rose to Rs 1208 million in the quarter while income rose by 7.54 percent from Rs…
