News Broadcasting
Asia puts on a good show at MIPTV 2002
MIPTV 2002 (International Television Program Market), which claims to be the spring’s leading international television programme market, saw the Asian region – particularly Japan and Korea – put up a strong showing. They were the 4th and 8th largest exhibiting nations. The event took place at Cannes from 15-19 April.
Asia was also a strategic region for international sales. CCTV picked up BBC Worldwide’s The Blue Planet and Walking with Beasts and renewed an agreement for RDF’s challenge series Scrapheap Challenge. Korean broadcaster Daekyo Network Broadcasting acquired exclusive rights to EMTV’s Junior branded programmes for three years and committed to buy a minimum of 468 half-hours from the Junior library.
China’s newcomer Tanglong International Media and HBO Korea acquired rights to E! Networks shows and blocks. Japan’s NHK, UBC Thailand and SBS Korea picked up Sesame Workshop and Pepper’s Ghost Productions CGI series Tiny Planets. Sony Japan took all rights to Hit Entertainment’s stop-motion animated series Pingu. MBC Korea and HBO Asia acquired rights to Alliance Atlantis series and films and Malaysia’s Astro TV picked up rights to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment specials.
Canada was represented by 114 exhibiting companies (80 last year), Japan brought 46 exhibiting companies (37 last year), and 33 companies came from South Korea (13 last year). The number of exhibiting companies from Asia Pacific grew by 17.4 per cent this year (135 companies). A third of MIPDOC’s top 30 buyers (those who viewed the largest amount of programs) came from Asia.
However, the overall figures showed a marginal decline from last year which an official release partly attributed to the dotcom crash. In all, 10,200 delegates representing 2,715 companies from 97 countries participated at the market. Last year 11,049 delegates from 2,827 companies and 90 countries attended. A total 1,209 exhibiting companies attended from 56 countries, while last year 1,228 companies from 55 countries took part in the market.
Documentaries were prevalent among the deals made at MIP TV as well as MIPDOC, where buyers made a record 9,037 viewings. After the events of 11 September top-budget factual programming is increasingly scheduled into prime-time slots. At MIPTV Channel 4 and ZDF announced a major partnership to create and distribute a high-end documentary The Private Life of Pompeii. Beyond and S4C teamed up to produce a $900,000 three-part series about the Stone Age. BBC Worldwide sold over 200 hours of documentaries to Finland, Israel, and Portugal.
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.
