News Broadcasting
Asia-Pac broadcast body, Casbaa to jointly fight piracy
MUMBAI: The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) and the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) agreed to work together to combat signal theft in the region at an ABU copyright seminar in Hong Kong on Thursday.
According to Caasba CEO Simon Twiston Davies, signal theft was increasing at a rate of 11 per cent a year in Asia, corroding the ability of the industry to grow. The cost of piracy of channels by unlicensed cable operators, under-declaring of subscriptions by licensed operators, and ad-blocking by cable operators, amounted to more than $1.2 billion a year in the Asian region, Davies claimed.
“Piracy is a big problem for our members in Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand and India,” he said.
ABU secretary-general David Astley told the seminar that many free-to-air channels were suffering signal theft too, and proposed that the two organisations work together where there were issues of common interest.
FTA broadcasters were suffering what the chief legal counsel of ABS-CBN, Philippines, Andrefanio Santos, described as both primary signal piracy and secondary signal piracy.
Santos explained that secondary signal piracy was where cable operators had pirated DTH (direct to home) satellite services that had already pirated the transmissions of free-to-air broadcasters.
“There being hundreds of cable operators in the Philippines, it is not expedient for ABS-CBN to seek legal action against each and every cable operator,” he said.
Santos said his organisation was therefore focusing its legal action against the DTH operators. “Once the illegal broadcast by the DTH operator is finally stopped, it is evident that most of the unauthorized retransmission by the provincial cable operators will also stop,” Santos said.
The ABU seminar, which was held in conjunction with its annual Copyright Working Party meeting, attracted delegates from Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, People’s Republic of China, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey.
Other issues that were discussed at the seminar included the protection of format rights and the negotiation of music licences and royalties.
News Broadcasting
Network18 posts Rs 1,955 crore revenue, narrows FY26 losses
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.
