News Broadcasting
MSOs to petition finance ministry on service tax
NEW DELHI: The cable industry, especially the multi-system operators (MSOs) have not taken very well to a budgetary announcement relating to service tax and would be petitioning the finance ministry on the issue.
What’s more, the MSOs feel that finance minister P. Chidambaram is subjecting them to “double taxation.”
According to cable industry sources, the MSO Alliance, a newly-formed body of MSOs, is slated to petition the finance ministry on the issue of service tax either tomorrow or early next week.
In the budgetary proposals announced earlier this month, it has been specifically explained “cable operator service will include MSOs.”
One of the points that would be highlighted in the petition is that since MSOs already pay service tax — increased to 10 per cent from this financial year — for cable service rendered through networks directly controlled and owned by them, bringing them under the tax net would amount to double taxation, which is not justifiable.
But most MSOs also don’t have direct presence in many cities and even in a city too. While work through franchisees (like Hathway and INCablenet), others like Siti Cable have joint venture partners in a majority of places.
Another point that is likely to be brought up is that there is a “basic difficulty” in getting the service tax from the local cable operators, especially those who are franchisees and joint venture partners (as in the case of Siti Cable), as the LCOs don’t declare their entire subscriber base.
MSO Alliance is a body of some of the big companies operating in this sector and comprises Rajan Raheja-controlled Hathway Datacom, Hindujas-controlled IndusInd Media (INCablenet), Sun group’s parent company Sumangali (SCV), RPG Network, Trinity Platco and Zee Telefilms cable subsidiary Siti Cable.
However, if the MSOs admit in their petition to the government that LCOs under-declare, it may just go about strengthening the case of another section of the broadcast and cable industry that feels that gross under-reporting by the cable industry is resulting in huge losses to it.
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.
