News Broadcasting
Hungama ‘Captain Hunt’ heats up
MUMBAI: Who thought our kids are so eager to run a TV channel? Hungama, UTV’s much awaited kids’ channel has received 100,000 plus entries from kids across India.
UTV had made an open invitation to the Indian kids, to create their own television channel through participation in the Hungama TV Captains Hunt! The big hunt is on to select TV captains, 20 of India’s brightest kids, who will eventually run the channel.
Hungama TV COO Purnendu Bose said, “We are pleasantly surprised that we have more than a lakh kids wanting to run our channel, we wish we would accommodate all of them. The response for the hunt only goes to show how the kids have been wanting to run their own channel, after all Hungama TV is for the Indian Kids, by the Indian Kids.”
The hunt was kicked off on 28 June and till 27 July, had received an overwhelming response of 1,05,571 entries across 25 cities making the hunt the largest in terms of numbers of entries received for any talent hunt in India, informed an official release.
Mumbai leads the pack with a total of 25,825 entries followed quite closely by Delhi with 24,550. Pune 12,546, Ahmedabad 8,215, Bangalore 7,800 are the other high response cities. Entries have also been flowing in from other cities like Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Allahabad, Indore etc. through mail. The city level auditions in Mumbai, Bangalore will be held on Saturday, 31 July followed by Indore, Pune, Ahmedabad on Sunday, 1 August. The second leg of the auditions will be held on Saturday 7 August in Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata and concluding on Sunday 8 August in Jaipur and Ludhiana, added the release.
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.
