News Broadcasting
Funny horror, terrific performances light up MTV
MUMBAI: My favourite singer is Britney Spears! It was a ‘horrorble’ and a ‘Colourblind’ event last night as MTV held the second edition of its awards show The Immies. The show was boosted by some wonderful performances and funny horror visuals.
Bollywood star Hritik Roshan won for dancing to the tune of Main Aisa Kyun Hoon for the film Lakshya. At the show however Zayed Khan proved his dexterity by dancing to the tune of all the five nominees for best performance in a film song. In the female category it was Sushmita Sen who took the honours for the track Main Hoon Na. Josh picked up an award for best non-film talent. You fans are crazy. You are the reason we are here. We would like to dedicate this award to those who make original music. Keep up the good work guys.
The male pop artiste award went to Bombay Vikings. The international male pop award went to Enrique Iglesias while the female one went to Tata Young. The best Ghazal album went to Jagjit Singh. The best remix video went to DJ Suketu. The song of the year went to Arun Bairav who wrote Laal Dupatta for the film Mujhse Shaadi Karoge. Sunidhi Chauhan was adjudged the best female singer for performing a song from Munnabhai MBBS.
Through its ‘Staying Alive’ initiative MTV has taken on the cause of fighting the menace of Aids. The awards shoe felicitated the film Phir Milenge for having the courage to tackle the issue head on. One of the producers Shailendra Singh said, I would like to thank Sahara, Abhishekh Bachchan who put everything they had into this project. Now we are enjoying the music, the fresh air. One mistake and all this could disappear. We wanted to use a commercial platform to explain to people the meaning of life and the fact that they must not take life lightly.
Performance wise one of the highlights of the evening was American pop singer Alanis Morrisette who delivered two superb acoustic renditions of her songs Ironic and Thank You. At the start of the show it was bhangra singer Sukhbir and Josh who got the crowd going with their energetic and complicated act. Later on the audience grooved to British singer Darius Danesh who performed his hit Colourblind.
The hosts of the evening MTV show host Cyrus Broacha and Mandira Bedi shared a decent rapport with each other. In keeping with the fun horror theme Broacha first showed up courtesy his head, which was on a dish. The rest of his body walked in a little later. We have got my head and Mandiras body. It should be a kickass show. I would like to announce that MTV has launched a new show that is doing extremely well. It is called Coffin With Karan. The horror personality of the year is Kaizad Gustad for making a film that nobody wanted to watch or act in or got paid for.
He also made fun of the Reliance tussle that is going on between the Ambani brothers. (Anil Ambani) Mera paas Amitabh Bachchan, Amar Singh Hain. Aapka Pass kya Hain? (Mukesh Ambani) Mera pass Sehwag ki ma hai.
The mock horror AVs some of which mercilessly lampooned the fact that Hindi horror movies feature an excess of white had the audience in splits. One mock ad featured deadcell, which is a cough solution for the afterlife. Another ad went like this. When evil strikes only one man strikes back. Van Hellsingh.
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.
