News Broadcasting
Aryamaan- Brahmaand Ka Yoddha to start telecast from 14 July
After the resounding success of Shaktimaan, Mukesh Khanna now brings Aryamaan- Brahmaand Ka Yoddha.
A fantasy tale of high drama, battles, political intrigue, changing loyalties, betrayal, romance, adventure, thrills and so on, Aryamaan is a story of a warrior prince of Thar empire which belongs to Ariyana galaxy which is millions of years away from planet Earth. The serial is slated to begin telecast from 14 July, every Sunday between 12:00-1:00pm on DD1.
” Aryamaan is ten times bigger than Shaktimaan in terms of backdrop, drama, action, adventure, thrill, production values and special effects,”says Khanna. He believes that Aryamaan will be a trend setter as far as DD programming is concerned and will bring about a turnaround in DD’s image the same way KBC turned Star around.
Mukesh Khanna in and as Aaryamaan
The first episode of the serial was shown to a select group of journalists last night at the Taj and if it is anything to go by, its grandeur indeed would overshadow Shaktimaan many times over.
But isn’t he wary of losing money on it, given the huge budgets involved? “This project will get enough sponsors to make it profitable by the 13 th episode. As a strategy we have also decided to swap the time slots of Aryamaan and Shaktimaan, So, Aryamaan which was originally given the 9:30 am slot on Sunday will actually be telecast at 12:00pm which has been Shaktimaan’s slot whereas Shaktimaan will be telecast at 9:30 am. This way, both serials will benefit. While Shaktimaan has a dedicated viewership that will remain unaffected irrespective of its slotting, Aryamaan will benefit from the 12:00 pm slot as viewers would definitely be keen to find out about Shaktimaan’s replacement.”
Actor Kiran Kumar, who plays a pivotal role in the serial said,” We actors work only for money or for a good role. On very rare occasions we work out of respect for someone’s vision and conviction. I’m doing this serial only for Mukesh Khanna to support him in his efforts to break away from the ordinary and produce good quality entertaining and educating stuff for children.”
With his serials, Khanna intends to create a new genre of programs that would contain high drama, thrills, adventure and weave elements of science fiction in it to make the programs educative as well.
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.
