News Broadcasting
‘American idol’ winner Hicks sues record producer
MUMBAI: The winner of the fifth season of US broadcaster Fox’s music based reality show American Idol Taylor Hicks has filed a lawsuit in an effort to stop the release of his first recordings.
The soul singer has been granted a temporary restraining order, which will prevent producer William Smith from cashing in on Hicks’ early tracks. Hicks hopes that the court will make the injunction permanent. He is also seeking unspecified damages in a lawsuit filed against Smith.
Media reports state that Smith has been using ITunes to sell some very old tracks that Hicks recorded back in 1997, including a song titled “The Fall”. E! Online has quoted Smith as saying, “I have the legal right to use these recordings for a period of seven years to further his musical career. I am not going to radio, I am going to iTunes. This is the best way to make this single a number one hit.”
Hicks has sued Smith and his production company for more than $75,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. Reports indicate that the singer’s lawyer received a letter in July from Smith stating that he planned to release a song on iTunes that Hicks had laid down in 1997 called The Fall.
Hicks stated in his complaint that Smith has no ownership rights to any of the songs in question, and he is maintaining that Smith is in violation of the agreement the two arrived at after the songs unlawfully hit iTunes the first time around.
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.
