News Broadcasting
News broadcasters look to finalise content code before month-end
NEW DELHI: With growing pressure following the infamous Uma Khurana sting operation, broadcasters are working towards finalising their Content Code before the end of this month, and the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has convened a meeting early next week to discuss the issue.
The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has already indicated to the information and broadcasting ministry that it will finalise its Code by the end of January.
The ministry is itself under a direction from the Delhi High Court to give its views on the status of an attempt to bring in a regulation. In a decision given last month, the High Court, while responding to a set of PILs, had asked the ministry to come with its response within ten weeks.
Accordingly, the ministry has called a meeting of stakeholders in the second half of this month to take their inputs, an official said.
According to an IBF official, a preliminary draft is ready but will be subjected to threadbare discussion at the Mumbai meeting following which a final version may be drafted to be submitted to the ministry.
NBA claims it has already formulated its own code and a grievance redressal mechanism and handed over the draft to senior advocate and former solicitor general of India Harish Salve, who is helping the association in the preparation of the code. ”Since, we deal with the news and current affairs, our issues are very different. The IBF is drafting a code relating to entertainment programmes which would require different parameters,” an NBA official said.
The Editors Guild is also working on a model code and a self-regulation mechanism.
The government had prepared a Content Code with the help of various stakeholders and even placed it on the Ministry’s website mib.nic.in for comments and fixed a final date of 5 August, 2007 for this purpose, but met with stiff resistance.
The fake sting operation resulted in the Courts intervening and the ministry stepping up pressure for some regulation in the broadcasting sector, even as the Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill remains in cold storage.
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.
