News Broadcasting
4 entries through to Intl Emmies final round from Asia/Africa in children, drama categories
MUMBAI: Judging for the semi-final round of the International Emmy awards for the Asia/Africa region in the children and young people and drama categories has come to an end.
Four entries, whose names have not yet been disclosed, will advance to the final.
The International Academy of Arts and Sciences commissioned the Eastern Multimedia Group to conduct the judging process. There were 30 jurors, among whom was Indiantelevision.com founder Anil Wanvari.
Speaking about the event, which was held in Taipei, from 7 to 10 July, Wanvari said, “It was a fantastic experience. Judging an event like this exposes you to a diverse array of programmes. There are different palettes. The quality of the entries was extremely high and it was difficult to differentiate one from the other.
“However the judges managed to award the requisite marks to each and move on. Each entry was marked by a high level of expertise in terms of production values,” he added.
India was represented among the programmes that came through to the semi-final round in the drama series category through Star Plus’s soap Saara Akaash. The show is loosely built around the lives of air force pilots.
Another entry in the drama series came from Singapore’s SPH Mediaworks. Together Whenever deals with a traditional bakery owned by a couple with two boys and two girls. Things are going great until competition enters the scene.
SPH Mediaworks again featured with Crunch Time II, a reality based documentary drama, whose aim is to bring out the positive aspects of people who have gone through a difficult time in their lives. The show examines how they counter tough moments and come out of them.
South Africa had two entries. Soul City, a drama series produced by the Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication’s, revolves around the Soul City community’s quest to strive over challenges as a collective.
The other one being the South African Brodcasting Corporation’s (SABC) Zero Tolerance, a 13-part, 1-hour drama series about a special investigative unit set up by the South African President. This unit, known as the Zero Tolerance unit, is responsible for investigating high high priority crime problems facing South Africa today.
The other drama series that were in the running for a final spot include: Happy and Lucky (SPH Mediaworks), A Child’s Hope (MediaCorp TV, Singapore), Always On My Mind (MediaCorp TV, Singapore) and Pure Love III (Mainichi Broadcasting System, Japan).
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.
