News Broadcasting
NRSC forms new technical body; schemes NRS 2004
MUMBAI: A meeting of the National Readership Studies Council (NRSC) held on 24 September in Mumbai has elected The Times of India Group president Pradeep Guha as the chairman. Guha succeeds Krishan Premnarayen of the Mumbai-based Prem Associates Advertising and Marketing.
NRS council also commissioned the NRS 2004 by appointing a single research agency namely, AC Nielsen ORG-MARG Pvt. Ltd. to undertake this study, informs an official release.
The specialities of NRS 2004 include an increase in sample size by 30 per cent and an increase of over 120 per cent in the number of locations. All adults over 12 years of age across all states in India (Except J & K, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands) will be included in the coverage. Other highlights of the survey include:
All districts to be covered.
All Towns above 1 lakh population to be covered.
Coverage of Number of villages covered more than doubled for higher spread of the sample as compared to NRS 2003.
Readership Estimates by editions.
Readership of supplements in 35 metros.
Section-wise readership.
Psychographic profiling parameters.
100 per cent dedicated Team of the Research Agency to supervise the entire project.
Quality checks by reputed External Audit firm.
Incidence of Internet usage from Mobile & SMS usage.
An enlarged technical committee has been constituted, headed by Madison CEO Sam Balsara CEO MADISON, as its chairman. Group M managing director Ashutosh Srivastava will be the deputy chairman. The members of the technical committee include Media agencies: Arpita Menon (Lodestar), Jasmin Sorabji (Mediacom), Karthik Sharma (Madison) and V Balasubramaniam (Group M). Publications: Ashish Bagga (Living Media Group), Conrad Saldanah (Times of India), Vargese Chandy (Malyala Manorama), Girish Aggarwal (Dainik Bhaskar), Vikas Joshi (Dainik Jagran), Mitrajit Bhattacharya (Chitralekha) and Suresh Balakrishanan (Hindustan Times), Rajmohan (Hathway Investments), Girish Agarwal (Dainik Bhaskar), Mitrajit Bhattacharya (Chitralekha) and Vikas Joshi (Dainik Jagran). Advertisers: Rajesh Kumar (Tata Motors), Soumitra Sengupta (Cadbury’s), Shyam Motwani (Godrej Appliances), Manoj Vidhwans (Star India) and V Chandramouli (Onida). Well-known Research professional Dr Sridhar has been appointed as advisor.
The additional steps taken by the NRSC council to ensure the robustness of the findings include appointing of only one research agency to ensure accountability, appointment of a full time and qualified research professional at ABC, solely dedicated to NRSC, appointment of a reputed external auditing firm. NRSC has also appointed a renowned research professional Dr. Sridhar as advisor.
The project has already been initiated and is in the process of being rolled out. The findings are expected to be released in March 2005, the release added.
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.
