News Broadcasting
Aggregator launches TV over broadband(TVoBB) service
MUMBAI: Aggregator Limited has announced the launch of its first TV-over-Broadband (TVoBB) service, a Russian language portal that is set to change the TV viewing habits of over half a million Russians living in the UK.
MoëTV (pronounced ‘my-oar TV’ meaning ‘My TV’ in English) will go live later this month and will provide a collection of on-demand entertainment, drama, current affairs, films, documentaries, music and children’s programming.
MoëTV is a service which combines the speed of broadband and the best in Russian television with high quality pictures and sound. Aggregator has secured licences for programming from over 20 content suppliers including Amedia, Discovery Networks, Mosfilm, MTV Russia, National Geographic, nTV and RenTV.
Consumers interested in the service can pre-register by going to www.moe.tv and entering their email address. The service will offer around 400 hours of programming at launch, growing to an average of 1000 hours, refreshed monthly.
MoëTV has no mandatory subscription charges, meaning consumers can choose to obtain content on a per-view basis of 99p to £2.99 per programme or to view unlimited content for a £15.99 monthly payment.
All that the viewer needs to do to receive MoëTV is a broadband connection from any ISP and a PC or laptop. Programming can be viewed on the PC or the TV using a media extender. Aggregator has built a unique TVoBB content delivery platform, based on open standards technologies, to provide the viewer with a quality and easy to use service – for example MoëTV can schedule downloads so that users don’t exceed their ISP’s monthly download limits.
“The launch of this service will provide broadcast-quality television services to the 500,000 Russian speakers in the UK,” said Aggregator’s co-founder and Director of Programming, Chris Griffin.
“This is a well-educated, affluent community that has grown rapidly in the UK but is woefully underserved by mainstream television platforms. MoëTV can ensure that they, and their families, stay in touch with their language and culture while they are living abroad,” Griffin added.
MoëTV is the first in a series of planned service launches targeted at niche audiences from Aggregator, the brainchild of senior television industry figures Martin Goswami and Chris Griffin. Aggregator’s TVoBB services will create a new UK pay-TV platform, an on-demand broadband service that will deliver high-quality content to ethnic and special interest communities that are currently underserved by the television market.
“In order to be successful and provide consumers with exciting services they are prepared to pay for, new TV delivery platforms such as IPTV and TVoBB need differentiated content. We are excited about the potential of a fast growing broadband universe, so we have created services that work best in an IP based environment,” said Aggregator’s co-founder and CEO Martin Goswami.
“It seems that many operators currently planning IPTV services are targeting audiences who are already well-served on existing platforms. We’ve looked at that model and rejected it. What we’ve done instead is to develop packages of the best content available for specialist audiences who are not part of the mainstream pay-TV franchise,” added Goswami.
Aggregator is well advanced with a number of services aimed at underserved communities and interest groups. In 2007, the company plans to bring all these services together under a common platform brand incorporating the Freeview channels and PVR functionality.
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.
