News Broadcasting
Aaj Tak becomes the first news YouTube channel in the world to cross 50 mn subscribers
Mumbai: Earlier this year, Aaj Tak became the first news channel globally to cross 50 million subscribers. India Today Group vice chairperson Kalli Purie met YouTube managing director of APAC Gautam Anand in Singapore to commemorate the special achievement.
“Thank you so much, YouTube! This is just amazing. The team is already planning its way to 100 million, so YouTube had better start designing the next button,” Purie quipped to Anand. “Trust has always been the foundation for audience engagement at Aaj Tak. It’s no different with our YouTube channel, but on a much wider scale with hundreds of videos getting uploaded every day. We place equal emphasis on having new audiences discover our channel while ensuring loyal viewers revisit, and invest in figuring out what works on YouTube—whether this is a nuanced understanding of thumbnails or producing hero content frequently.”
Aaj Tak started its digital journey by launching its YouTube channel in 2009 and started streaming news live on YouTube for the first time in 2017. The massive popularity gained by the channel subsequently led to its ‘Diamond Play’ button from YouTube in 2019 for crossing 10 million subscribers. Now, just three years later, Aaj Tak is the first news channel to reach 50 million subscribers on YouTube.
“Constant experimentation with new formats like Shorts and investment into our community page has really paid off, and consistently breaking stories has helped create a very loyal fanbase,” explained Purie. “Events like the Presidential Elections of 2022, the Solar Eclipse and the Cricket World Cup just kept encouraging us to do better and better.”
YouTube has been at the forefront of India’s mobile revolution by powering the content and creator ecosystem and by propelling the massive upsurge of video streaming in the world’s largest democracy. Aaj Tak has also fast evolved its offering to meet new consumer needs, with the introduction of Shorts, and other constantly emerging insights on live streams. The channel now has a universe of committed audiences across TV, web, app and social platforms through compelling storytelling that’s tailored to individual platforms.
This milestone is testimony to Aaj Tak’s sharpened channel strategy, which has contributed to increased subscriptions and enabled engagement with wider audiences.
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.
