News Broadcasting
BBC claims excellent response to interactive Olympics feature
MUMBAI: BBC’s decision to provide interactive services in the UK for the Olympics has paid off.
As many as 8.96 million digital satellite viewers pressed the red button to use the BBC’s interactive Olympic services. This represents the highest reaching service to date and more than double the previous peak for Wimbledon 2004.
While 83 per cent of those who had pressed the red button used the service for more than three minutes, 61 per cent were still interacting 15 minutes into the service, and 51 per cent stayed over 25 minutes.
Figures show that 58 per cent of the available digital satellite (Sky) audience pressed red to interact. The BBC’s broadband Olympics service which included both live and highlights coverage attracted an estimated 2.8 million requests for at-home broadband streaming.
The site bbc.co.uk/olympics attracted 5.7 million unique users during the games. BBC Sport’s head of New Media, Sports News and Development Andrew Thompson said, “This was the first ever truly interactive Olympics. It is a model for multi-media working at the BBC in the future.
“The interactive services give our audiences exactly what they wanted across the web and interactive TV: extra choice about what events they watch, when and how they watched them.
“The figures we got are a tribute to the production and technical teams who worked so effectively together across all media to deliver a fantastic choice of compelling content.”
The BBC’s interactive Olympics service gave digital satellite and cable viewers the opportunity to choose from four streams of live coverage through the red button in addition to BBC One and BBC Two.
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.
