News Broadcasting
Ashok Venkatramani joins MCCS as CEO
NEW DELHI: Media Content and Communications Services (MCCS), the joint venture company between ABP Ltd and Star Group, has appointed Ashok Venkatramani as CEO.
Venkataramani comes in from Hindustan Unilever Ltd, where he was VP for the skin care division.
MCCS which houses Star News, Star Majha and Star Ananda was operating headless for almost a year after Uday Shankar shifted to Star India as COO (he later became CEO).
MCCS Chairman Aveek Sarkar said, “We are delighted to get Ashok on board MCCS. His remarkable successes in FMCG marketing and business clearly demonstrate that Ashok has an acute sense of the consumer pulse.”
Venkatramani said, “Television is an extremely exciting medium for a marketing person, offering as it does the opportunity to connect with the audience directly and at several levels in the same space and moment.
“It allows for more nuanced communication, which is a marketing person’s delight. At the same time, with so many channels proliferating, it is a challenging task to keep ahead of the market as MCCS has successfully done, while driving revenues and growing profitably.”
Venkatramani has been working for HUL for more than 18 years. He has worked in most parts of the business, in the HUL foods division as well as the home and personal care businesses, in sales, marketing and general management role.
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.
