News Broadcasting
New Balaji serial ‘Kabhi Souten, Kabhi Saheli’ launches Monday on 9 Gold
MUMBAI: Balaji Telefilms Ltd, India’s leading television software producer, unleashes yet another serial on Monday on Channel Gold Nine’s 9:30 pm slot on DD Metro.
Following on after its superhit serial “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi”, “Kabhi Souten, Kabhi Saheli” (KSKS) marks yet another landmark for Balaji which seems to have made the making of successfull serials into an assemblyline habit. Shooting for the serial is simultaneously going on in English.
“We see a big market for our serials in countries like the West Indies, Fiji, South Africa, Mauritius, etc, which have third and fourth generation Indian communities residing there,” Balaji CEO Sanjay Dosi said. ” In Hindi, there was the language problem which we had to get around if we wanted to properly exploit our potential. We considered subtitling but felt that while this might work for full length features, it would fail in the serial format,” Dosi said. “We are not trying for another “Mouthful of Sky” (the first Indian soap made in English), Dosi clarified. The actors will be mouthing normal dialogues with no attempts at Anglising,” he added.
KSKS will air four times a week from Monday to Thursday at 9:30 pm. If the promos are anything to go by anyway, there appears to have been some “visual inspiration” from the critically acclaimed Tamil film “Kandukondein Kundukondein” which was itself loosely based on Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility”.
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.
