News Broadcasting
#9pm9mins sees lowest-ever viewership since 2015
MUMBAI: Prime minister Narendra Modi’s addresses to the citizens of India have been keenly watched in the last few weeks. Even as his address on 24 March, announcing the 21-day nationwide lockdown, got the highest ever views, his subsequent address on 3 April led to a low point for TV viewership.
On 3 April, PM Modi had urged people to demonstrate a collective will to fight COVID-19 by switching off all lights at home and lighting a lamp, candle or turning on the mobile phones’ flashlight on 5 April, Sunday, at 9 pm for nine minutes.
The third edition of BARC-Nielsen report studying viewership trends during lock says that TV viewership dropped by 60 per cent during these 9 minutes as compared to previous weeks. Additionally, the viewership during these nine minutes was the lowest ever since 2015.
“The decline started by 8.53 pm and came back to current trends only after 9.30 pm,” adds the report. 9 pm is considered as a primetime, even for a Sunday and so the viewership dip is staggering.
The latest address of PM Modi failed to achieve traction the way the first two addresses announcing Janta Curfew and 21-day lockdown, did.
“The prime minister’s 11-minute video message on #9PM9Minutes garnered over 1024.5 million viewing minutes. The Janta Curfew address (19 March) and 21-day lockdown (24 March) announcement achieved 1275.3 million and 3862.9 million viewing minutes respectively. Both the addresses were telecast for at least 30 minutes on almost all news channels..
As the media and entertainment industry has stopped generating fresh content, the only genre being kept under essential services – news channels – is able to show and update viewers about the pandemic with new content. This has helped news broadcasters to gain viewership exponentially by over 250 per cent for the third week straight, as per the report.
It is observed that viewers watch news on TV first thing post waking up and also sign off their day either by watching news or movies.
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.
