News Broadcasting
Sunil Lulla quits BCCL
MUMBAI: The BCCL corporate development president Sunil Lulla has bid adieu to the company.
“Today is my last day,” he confirmed the development to indiantelevision.com. However, his future plans are still not clear.
The former MD and CEO of Times Television Network (TTN), Lulla, who took over the charge of BCCL a couple of months back when MK Anand was brought in to lead the charge, just got back from his holiday in Norway.
This follows a series of high-profile exits from the company. Times Now, ET Now and Zoom CEO Avinash Kaul and TTN English Entertainment Channels CEO Ajay Trigunayat had moved on in April, this year.
What is notable is that these exits came after Anand took charge in January.
Lulla has spent close to nine years in TTN in various leadership roles. Prior to joining TTN, he was at Sony Entertainment Television as executive VP for three years.
In 2000, he had started indya.com, which was later acquired by News Corp/Star. He is also the man behind the launch of MTV and credited to bring it to number one position in India. Lulla was general manager and country head at MTV India from 1996 to 1999.
In his 25 plus years in the industry, Lulla has worked with media, entertainment, technology and television broadcast. His early years were spent in sales and soon thereafter with JWT in senior positions in India, China and Taiwan. He was member of the team which helped turn around Sa Re Ga Ma (HMV) in India.
Lulla is a member of many industry associations and helps drive policy and agenda setting themes for the advertising, media and entertainment industry.
News Broadcasting
Network18 Q4 revenue grows 9.7 per cent, EBITDA at Rs 30 crore
PAT improves to Rs 306.6 crore, margins steady amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: Not all news is breaking, some of it is quietly improving. Network18 Media & Investments Limited appears to be doing just that, tightening losses and stabilising margins even as costs continue to weigh on the business. For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,955.1 crore, up from Rs 1,896.2 crore in FY25, signalling modest top-line growth in a challenging media environment. Total income stood at Rs 1,978.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,913 crore a year earlier.
Profit after tax came in at Rs 306.6 crore for the year, a sharp turnaround from Rs 3,225.4 crore in FY25, largely reflecting the absence of large exceptional items that had inflated the previous year’s numbers. On a more comparable basis, the company’s operating performance showed signs of gradual stabilisation.
However, the quarterly picture remained under pressure. For the March quarter, Network18 reported a loss of Rs 53.1 crore, narrower than the Rs 98.1 crore loss in the same period last year, but still indicative of ongoing cost challenges.
Expenses continued to track high. Total expenses for FY26 stood at Rs 2,235.7 crore, up from Rs 2,197.8 crore in FY25. Key cost heads included operational expenses of Rs 765.9 crore, employee benefits of Rs 475.9 crore, and marketing, distribution and promotional spends of Rs 427.1 crore, underlining the continued investment required to sustain reach and engagement.
At an operating level, margins remained under strain. Operating margin stood at 2.33 per cent for FY26, marginally higher than 1.77 per cent in FY25, while net profit margin remained negative at -13.02 per cent, though improved from -14.89 per cent.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 8,957.6 crore as of 31 March 2026, from Rs 8,317.5 crore a year earlier. Equity strengthened to Rs 4,958.7 crore, while borrowings increased to Rs 3,112.8 crore, reflecting a higher reliance on debt to support operations.
Cash flows told a mixed story. While financing activities generated Rs 83.9 crore, operating cash flow remained negative at Rs -24 crore, highlighting ongoing pressure on core cash generation. Cash and cash equivalents, however, improved to Rs 33.9 crore from Rs 1.8 crore.
The numbers point to a company in transition growing revenues, trimming losses, but still grappling with structural cost pressures. In a sector where scale often comes at a price, Network18 seems to be inching towards balance, one quarter at a time.
