News Broadcasting
NATPE Mobile++ announces Peter Cowley, Cyriac Roeding and Gary Carter to Keynote 15 January event
MUMBAI: NATPE Mobile++ organisers have secured three digital and interactive media executives as keynote speakers for the third annual NATPE Mobile++ event, which will kick off NATPE’s conference and exhibition on 15 January 2007.
Endemol UK director interactive media Peter Cowley; CBC Corporation vice president wireless Cyriac Roeding and FMX FremantleMedia chief creative officer Gary Carter will participate.
In an interview format hosted by Paidcontent.org publisher and editor Rafat Ali, Peter Cowley’s opening keynote will discuss Endemol’s mobile, gaming and interactive broadcast activities for a number of its properties, including Deal or No Deal, Get Close to the Sugar Babies and Big Brother. Cowley will also speak about the UK £15 million digital investment fund they have set up to develop new opportunities in digital media, asserts an official release.
Billed as the most valuable thirty minutes you could spend all year, Cyriac Roeding’s keynote session will address the next generation of media and the newly expanded media model: the convergence of Hollywood and Silicon Valley; the next generation of content; how traditional media platforms become interactive assets and how advertising needs to quickly follow this trend.
Digital veteran and visionary Gary Carter’s closing keynote will reveal the biggest business opportunities and pitfalls in the digital industry. Carter will share his perspective on the most lucrative opportunities in the media space.
NATPE Mobile++’s line-up of guest speakers also includes: BET EVP and COO BET Interactive Scott Mills; Microsoft VP corporate media content and partner strategy group Blair Westlake; CBS EVP chief of research David Poltrack; Amp’d Mobile founder and CEO Peter Adderton; Americas VP integrated fremantle licensing worldwide marketing and interactive Keith Hindle; QuickPlay Media CCO and co-founder Raja Khanna; Fox Sports Interactive senior VP business development Jon Smelzer; Sprint senior manager consumer communications partner development Howard Coonley and Mobile content consultant Graeme Ferguson.
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.
