Marathi News Channel IBN Lokmat is Now Fully Owned by Network18
Mumbai: Marathi television media company IBN Lokmat News Pvt. Ltd. will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Network18 by the end of October 2025. Network18's board has approved the acquisition of the remaining 50% equity share and preference holdings in the Marathi joint venture, IBN Lokmat News Pvt. Ltd., for Rupees 25 crore.
IBN Lokmat is now fully part of Network18. The channel leads the Marathi news market and has delivered strong revenue growth over the past three years. Its addition to the company's portfolio will further strengthen its regional leadership.
IBN Lokmat was established as a joint venture between Network18 and the Lokmat Group in 2007. Its revenue is projected to grow from Rupees 22.5 crore in fiscal year 2022-23 to Rupees 31.1 crore the following year, and then again to ₹36.5 crore by fiscal year 2024-25. This indicates that the channel is steadily gaining momentum.
Network18's TV channels maintain leadership in key markets: CNBC-TV18 in business, News18 India in Hindi, and CNN-News18 in English. Regional channels such as News18 Lokmat and News18 Bangla help drive viewership share.
Network18's digital platform, through Moneycontrol, Firstpost, and CNBCTV18, now reaches 270 million monthly users, representing 62% of India's digital audience. The company has achieved 13 billion video views on YouTube, three times more than its nearest competitor.
Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman of Network18, said, "The acquisition of the remaining stake in IBN Lokmat further strengthens our market-leading portfolio of national and regional news channels. Our goal is to become a one-stop news destination for audiences across the country, and this is another step in that direction."