News Broadcasting
Zee Media CEO Sudhir Chaudhary quits to pursue entrepreneurial venture
Mumbai: News broadcaster Zee Media on Friday said its chief executive officer Sudhir Zee Media CEO Sudhir Chaudhary quits to pursue entrepreneurial venture.
Chaudhary was associated with the news broadcaster for over 10 years. His resignation was announced during the closing of business hours on 1 July 2022 in a regulatory filing by Zee Media Corporation without specifying the reason.
The filing puzzling stated that the company has initiated the process of nominating Zee Media chief business officer Abhay Ojha as key managerial personnel in place of Chaudhary. However, as Indiantelevision.com reported on 19 June, Ojha had passed away due to a cardiac arrest.
Also read: TV broadcast veteran & Zee Media’s CRO Abhay Ojha passes away
As per a report by Newslaundry, the editors of Zee News, Zee Business and Zee 24 Taas will report to president – group strategy and innovation and WION will report directly to the publisher.
Chaudhary’s decision to quit was a result of his own deliberations to start his own enterprise.
He was associated with Zee Media for over a decade. Zee Media owns and operates 14 news channels in ten different languages and is one of the largest news networks in the country.
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.
