News Broadcasting
TV news presenter jailed under sexual harrasment charges in Singapore
MUMBAI: Former Channel News Asia presenter Vidya Shankar Aiyar lost a sexual harassment case in Singapore yesterday.
District judge Victor Yeo sentenced him to 16 months’ jail and four strokes of the cane for outraging the modesty of a 30 year woman.
Aiyar is appealing against both the conviction and the sentence and is currently out after coughing up Singapore $40,000 as bail, say media reports from Singapore.
The incident took place in November 2002, after a party, where Aiyar met the woman. The report indicate that he outraged the modesty of the women at his apartment in the suburb of Lorong Chuan.
Aiyar a bachelor, who used to present a programme In Conversation, was charged in May last year and tried in September and November. Apparently he had even tried to call off the entire issue by offering to compensate the woman if she would withdraw her charges, say the reports.
The judge had already convicted Shankar last week calling him a ‘hunting wolf in sheep’s clothing.’
According to media reports, Yeo said he was guided by two precedents while passing the sentence and his judgement. The first involved a case of a student who molested another who was sharing an umbrella with him and the other which involved a man who stroked his victim in a crowded place. Each of the offender was caned and jailed for nine months and their appeals against conviction dismissed.
All pointers are that even Aiyar’s case is unlikely to find any recourse.
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.
