Media stocks surge on World Cup fever

Media stocks rallied up to 10 percent on October 12, with the sector being in the limelight due to the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Analysts believe that since cricket enjoys a strong following in India, this nearly two-month-long event will provide a boost to select media companies. All 10 Nifty Media index constituents were trading higher.

The Nifty Media index was up 2.7 percent. Both TV18 Broadcast and Network18 Media stocks soared up to 10 percent on October 12. Other media shares such as DB Corp, PVR Inox, Dish TV, Sun TV, ZEEL, Nazara Technologies and Saregama were also up in the range of 1-5 percent.

According to a Jefferies report, Zee Entertainment, HT Media and DB Corp shares are also likely to benefit from the World Cup as media companies may witness increased advertisement spending across categories, as advertisers try to maintain their share of voice.

Shares of television service provider Hathway Cable and Datacom may also see an upside during the event. Hathaway stock jumped over 5 percent on October 12.

Network 18 Media Investments is also the largest shareholder in BookMyShow, the ticketing partner for ICC World Cup 2023.

While Hotstar has the OTT streaming rights for the ICC World Cup, Viacom 18 Media has the five-year media rights for BCCI’s home international games. TV18 Broadcast stands to benefit from the OTT platform. Sports18 (Viacom’s new channel) will telecast the matches on TV, while it will be live-streamed on JioCinema. Moneycontrol