News Broadcasting
ABAI: KAVGC 2013 Summit concludes in Bangalore
BENGALURU: The Karnataka Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (KAVGC) Summit organised by the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI), in collaboration with the government of Karnataka concluded on Thursday 29 August 2013, ending two days of power packed sessions by Indian and international experts from the industry and the Karnataka state government.
The first session on day two: the Business session on Technology was moderated by NVIDIA Country Head Vishal Dhupar and had Arul Moorthy, NVIDIA – GPU in the VFX Workflow Senior Applied Engineer Wil Braithwaite; Autodesk-Mental Ray Lead Animation AE in APAC Prem Moraes; HP – Shared Infrastructure, National Business Development Manager for Cloud Solutions R Balasubramanian and Wipro Technologies CTO of Global Media and Communication Business Jayanta Dey as co-panellists.
This was followed by a session on AVGC in a Globally Connected World moderated by The Children’s Media Foundation, UK Director Greg Childs. The session had representatives from different parts of the world speaking about the facilities that their territories had to offer to the Indian AVGC industry. This included Consuls, Vice-Consuls and Senior Trade Commissioners from Canada, France, UK and Quebec (Canada).
The session on Original Content Development moderated by Liquid Comics Founder Suresh Seetharaman had Walt Disney Television International India ex Director Content and Creative Arnab Chaudhuri; Technicolor Animation and Gaming Art Director Manoj Menon and Novo Juris – “How not to lose it” Sharda Balaji as co-panellists.
One of the most interesting sessions was the Show and Tell Session that had the audience’s undivided attention. Arnab Chaudhuri the director of the Indian animated action film ‘Arjun the Warrior Prince’ (AWP) spoke of the making of the film. Chaudhuri revealed the various real life characters on which every character in his film was based, details about the sets, as well as shared some of the raw footage and sketches that resulted in the final product. One of the best animated products out from India, AWP was produced by UTV motion pictures and Walt Disney Pictures, with Chaudhuri as Director Content and Creative at Walt Disney Television International India.
The summit culminated with a session on Education moderated by Dreamworks Dedicated Unit at Technicolor India Studio Head Adi Shayan. The other panellists were Dr. Ashish Kulkarni (CEO Reliance Animation) in his capacity as Ficci AVGC Forum, Governing Council Member and Ficci-MESC Initiatives for Skill Development; Asian Institute of Gaming and Animation (AIGA) Founder Hanif Mohammed; Native Puppets – Artists Perspective Founder Anand Baid, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, College of Fine Arts Director Dr. R Kulkarni; The Painted Sky Art Based Learning Approaches Executive Coach, Founder and Director Anirban Bhatrtacharya.
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.
