News Broadcasting
I&B minister seeks consumer-friendly CAS regime
MUMBAI: Minister of state for I&B with independent charge Ravi Shankar Prasad has placed consumer interest above all.
Prasad, today, asked broadcasters to find ways and means to usher in a consumer friendly regime under the conditional access system (CAS), which gives cable TV viewers a choice of subscribing only to desired pay channels.
“We have to keep the consumer interest in mind. Ultimately, the recipient of all technology is the consumer….who is also the final arbiter. He is very demanding and discerning and wants everything at competetive costs,” Prasad said, while inaugurating an international conference and exhibition on terresterial and satellite broadcasting.
“Digitalisation: roadmap for broadcasting”, is the theme
of the three-day conference organised by the Broadcast
Engineering Society (India), BES, the apex body in the field of broadcast engineering in the country.
Prasad, who dwelt on CAS as also bringing in digital broadcasting technology in place of the current analog system, emphasised he wanted to ensure that consumer interest was not compromised while making the changes.
Stating that investment would have to be shared by all
concerned in bringing the changes, Prasad said that analgoue set top boxes would cost Rs 3000 while digital boxes would be costlier.
While inaugurating the conference, BES president JG Gupta said that the three-day conference would feature sessions on cable TV and CAS.
Press Council of India chairman Justice K Jayachandra Reddy, who was made an honorary fellow of the BES, said in his keynote address that a meticulous transition policy was needed to to be drawn up for switching over from terresterial analog broadcasting to digital.
“Doordarshan will have to address all the relevant issues
which are quite complex”, he said.
On the DTH (direct to home) front, Justice Reddy said that DTH service providers must seek to attact customers from all segments of the public using increased transmission capacity to offer new value added services.
Additional secretary in I&B ministry Anil Baijal, said that technological upgradation has opened up a flood of opportunities for cable operators to provide value added services.
An exhibition — BES Expo 2003 — has also been organised along with the conference in which latest sophisticated broadcasting equipment and innovative gadgets made by Indian and foreign companies are on display.
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.
