News Broadcasting
Star Plus & BR Films announce prime time serial ‘Viraasat’ launch
MUMBAI: Star Plus has slotted the BR Films production Viraasat in its 9 pm weekday primetime slot. The serial features Sangita Ghosh and Rohit Roy in the title roles.
“Our currently running 9 pm soap Miilee had reached its logical conclusion, so it is imperative for us to launch a show which could fit well into the bigness of primetime 9 pm band and be a through and through entertainer, too. With Viraasat that’s exactly what we are getting for the viewers,” says Star India Content EVP Deepak Segal.
“Our endeavor is to dole out a classic family entertainer as it goes on to set its own mark, one which has no precedence, and thereby expect Viraasat to help us consolidate the channel’s supremacy in the primetime slot after having already done so, successfully in the weekend band” he elaborated further.
Viraasat, would be a multi-starrer family drama that will have a strong line-up of television’s popular faces including Kiran Kumar, Deepak Quazir, Aman Verma, Amarr Upadhyay, Jayati Bhatia and Pooja Raval Ghai.
The serial will tell the story of two people Rahul Lamba- played by Rohit Roy & Priyanka Kharbanda – played by Sangita Ghosh, who are madly in love with each other, however are bound by an age old enmity between their warring families, the release adds.
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.
