News Broadcasting
Alibaba’s UC news registers 100m active users, browser has 43% share in India
MUMBAI: UCWeb, an Alibaba Mobile Business Group company, today announced that its latest product, UC News, has crossed 100 Million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) in India and Indonesia. With 100 million daily article views, UC News has rapidly grown in India & Indonesia market since its launch in June 2016. UCWeb is augmenting its focus on digital content aggregation and distribution in the world’s second largest internet market, India.
Talking on the latest milestone, Alibaba Mobile Business Group president-overseas business Jack Huang said “We are experiencing a fast rise in the average time spent on UC News. As of this quarter, an average user spends over 23 minutes on UC News. Users are embracing diverse digital content and their appetite for such content is being met by UC News. Going forward, we are also targeting more diversified and localised content on our platform by end of 2017 to make the local content ecosystem stronger. With over 100 million MAUs, UCWeb envisions itself as powerful as Google and Facebook and aims to bring the global mobile internet to an era of ‘GUF’ (Google, UCWeb and Facebook).”
Leading the user-generated content ecosystem in India, UC News recently announced The We-Media Reward Plan 2.0 for self-publishers, bloggers & independent writers with an initial investment of 50 Million INR. UCWeb is investing 2 Billion INR for driving content distribution in India over the next two years. With the changing mobile internet landscape, UCWeb has adopted a strategy of becoming a content distribution platform from being a browsing tool by engaging and aggregating diverse form of content on its platforms – UC Browser and UC News. UC Browser is now the preferred option for mobile browsing and an ideal platform for accessing different kinds of content.
In a recently released report, UC Browser has achieved the highest browser market share in India, according to leading web analytics firm StatCounter. UC Browser is now the most popular browser in India in terms of internet usage across all platforms combined (Mobile, Desktop, Tablet, Console) with a market share at 43.31% followed by Chrome at 36.07% and Opera at 8.34%. UC Browser is also the dominant browser for mobile internet in India with over 100 mn Monthly Active Users (as of Sept 2016).
Indians are amongst the world leaders in terms of internet usage on mobile phones. According to StatCounter, internet usage in India by desktop and tablet fell from 33.2% in January 2016 to 21% this year. Mobile internet usage jumped from 66.8% to 79% over the same time period.
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.
