Online fashion store Spree and digital media giant 24.com recorded double-digit growth in the past year, Media24 has announced. But total group revenue was flat year on year, mostly due to ongoing declines in print advertising and circulation. This, coupled with continued investment in new and existing growth initiatives, resulted in trading profit of R249 million being 39% weaker than the previous year.
Media24 CEO Esmaré Weideman, said in a statement this was slightly better than budgeted for the year.
“Despite a tough market, we made impressive progress in growing our digital media operations, driving further efficiencies in our print media portfolio and diversifying the business,” she said, adding that the company was pleased with the “exponential growth of our digital businesses”.
She said Media24 was migrating from the “print media powerhouse of yesteryear to a cutting-edge online content and commerce company where engineers and software developers sit comfortably next to editors and journalists”.
Weideman said the the “deep investments we are making in new technologies, businesses and new skills will have a medium-term impact on our financial performance, but we believe we are taking the right steps to ensure a sustainable future for Media24”.
Weideman said she was particularly pleased with the growth of 24.com, which houses some of South Africa’s best-known online media brands such as News24, Fin24 and Afrikaans subscription site Netwerk24, the digital home of the company’s mainstream Afrikaans newspapers Die Burger, Beeld, Volksblad and Rapport.
Monthly unique browsers grew by 35% to 17 million and page views by 41% to 388 million compared with the previous year. Netwerk24 saw strong growth in subscriptions and is the country’s biggest news subscription site by far. NetNuus, Media24’s free Afrikaans news snippets app, now has more than 40 000 daily active users.
“For us it is incredibly important to migrate our journalism, our readers and our advertisers online,” said Weideman. “Print media is in rapid decline worldwide and South Africa is no different. Media companies who don’t take bold steps will not survive. Our ambition is to be one of the best examples in the world of a ‘traditional’ media company who refused to hold onto the past and embraced technology to not only keep on serving readers but also to be a financial success.”
Spree, an efashion store, grew sales by 88% and daily transactions by 76%. Sales from the Spree app more than doubled.
“Online fashion is showing massive growth all over the world and what we are seeing in South Africa confirms we are on the right track,” said Media24 ecommerce CEO Vincent Hoogduijn. “Shoppers are moving online at a rapid pace due to the convenience and safety of ordering online and having their parcels delivered to their door. What’s more, our ranges for women, men and children are both trendy and affordable while we also offer many of the country’s most aspirational designers.”
In the past year significant investment was made in software to improve the user experience of online news and entertainment apps and sites. “Machine learning and artificial intelligence are no longer buzzwords; they’re very much part of what we’re doing,” said head of 24.com Andreij Horn. “New apps such as News24 Edge, the personalised version of News24, and DailyKick, which pulls all content from Daily Sun, Soccer Laduma and Kick Off into one convenient home for sports and news loving mass-market audiences, are important steps to be of even more use to our users.”
Lift off for Media24’s Afrikaans TV channel
VIA, Media 24’s fully fledged lifestyle entertainment television channel available on all DStv bouquets, saw exceptional audience growth in its first full year of operation and is now the most popular lifestyle channel among Afrikaans viewers on DStv. Media24 announced its annual financial results on Friday.
VIA’s Afrikaans prime-time viewership grew by 44% over the past financial year, as measured by the Television Audience Measurement System (TAMS). The channel, with its focus on food, relationships and style, reached 30% of DStv’s total Afrikaans viewership, according to viewer measurement system DStv-i. It is now also the third biggest Afrikaans channel in South Africa on DStv and is gaining commercial traction too, exceeding its first- year revenue targets.
“We are thrilled that we had almost a quarter of a million viewers daily per TAMS by the end of March,” says Izelle Venter, VIA’s channel head. “We have built a unique, recognisable and loved entertainment brand with the support and expertise of our Media24 colleagues in a short period of time.’’
With one SA Film and Television Award and four out of a possible five ATKV-Mediaveertjie awards, VIA has also earned an industry nod of approval. Top performers include food reality shows Kom ons braai and Laat die potte prut as well as the hit reality show Bobby en Karlien: In jou skoene. Successful TV shows integrating Media24 brands have also made stars of brand journalists such as SARIE food editor Herman Lensing in Inspirasiekos met SARIE and WEG! writers Erns Grundling and Toast Coetzer in WEG! Agterpaaie.
