News Broadcasting
Aaj Tak claims top TV ratings slot during Bihar counting hours
MUMBAI: When the numbers began to tumble in Bihar, the real winner turned out to be the one counting them. Aaj Tak didn’t just report the vote, it swept the ratings ballot, claiming that it has emerged as India’s most-watched TV channel across all genres during the nail-biting four-hour counting window on 14 November.
BARC India’s Week 45 data (November 8–14), shows that between 8:00 am and 12:00 noon, Aaj Tak clocked a massive 1,847 AMA ‘000 alongside a Daily Average Reach of 12.59 million viewers. In plain speak: no GECs, no movie channels, no music stations, and no rival newsrooms could keep pace.
Even in an election season defined by tight races and tighter alliances, this was a landslide. With voters glued to every twist of the Bihar count, Aaj Tak became the nation’s preferred scoreboard turning the morning’s political suspense into a ratings masterclass.
Among news competitors, News18 India secured the second slot with 1,005 AMA ‘000 and a Daily Avg Reach of 10.53 million, a respectable number but still far behind Aaj Tak’s runaway lead.
Below is the list of the top 20 channels across genres during the Bihar counting band:
| Rank | Channel | AMA ‘000 | Daily Avg Reach ‘000 |
| 1 | Aaj Tak | 1,847 | 12,593 |
| 2 | Sony SAB | 1,436 | 10,344 |
| 3 | Sony Pal | 1,271 | 8,921 |
| 4 | Sun TV | 1,221 | 7,310 |
| 5 | B4U Music | 1,160 | 10,129 |
| 6 | Gemini TV | 1,079 | 9,035 |
| 7 | Star Maa | 1,057 | 10,103 |
| 8 | News18 India | 1,005 | 10,531 |
| 9 | NICK(v) | 971 | 7,160 |
| 10 | Star Utsav | 954 | 7,092 |
| 11 | ABP News | 878 | 9,702 |
| 12 | India TV | 860 | 7,630 |
| 13 | Goldmines | 836 | 9,593 |
| 14 | Zee News | 825 | 7,762 |
| 15 | Zee Telugu | 707 | 8,315 |
| 16 | TV9 Telugu | 664 | 6,567 |
| 17 | ETV Telugu | 655 | 7,181 |
| 18 | ShowBox | 605 | 8,452 |
| 19 | KTV | 595 | 6,727 |
| 20 | NTV Telugu | 540 | 6,665 |
BARC India data: Market – India; TG – Universe; Period – 14 November 2025; Time band – 08:00–12:00 hrs; Metrics – AMA ‘000, Daily Avg Reach ‘000.
Beyond news, only high-performing entertainment and regional channels managed to enter the overall leaderboard. Sony Sab, B4U Music, and Star Maa rounded out the top five in AMA terms underscoring just how unusual it is for a news channel to outshine primetime entertainment heavyweights in broad-category rankings.
But counting day has always been a genre of its own equal parts political thriller, sports final, and family drama. And on 14 November, Aaj Tak cracked the formula once again by combining pace, clarity and wall-to-wall access with the kind of viewing urgency only election arithmetic can deliver.
With the Bihar results reshaping political headlines, Aaj Tak’s dominance underscores a familiar truth: when India wants answers in real time, millions instinctively reach for the same remote button. And this time, the channel didn’t just win the ratings race, it won it by a margin any politician would envy.
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.
