News Broadcasting
Asiasat, Shin Sat conclude frequency coordination agreement
HONG KONG: Shin Satellite and Asia Satellite Telecommunications (Asiasat) have announced that the administrations of China and Thailand have concluded a frequency coordination agreement between both countries.
The agreement settled all concerned ITU filings of both sides at 120E and 122E for Thailand and China respectively.
Shin Satellite CEO Dr. Dumrong Kasemset was quoted in an official release saying, ” We have to thank the governments of both China and Thailand for their continual support, leading to a reasonable and equitable resolution. We believe that with this agreement the customers using satellites located at the two slots will be protected from interference. This is also a good example of how Asian regional satellite operators can cooperate for the benefit of all.”
Asiasat CEO Peter Jackson added, ” This agreement demonstrates that the normal ITU processes work exceptionally well in cases where potential harmful interference could occur between satellites. The agreement between AsiaSat and Shin Satellite fully protects Asiasat’s clients in China and Australia from the signals at Ku band generated by iPSTAR.
“Asiasat’s Ku band clients will be able to use 60 cm antennas for receiving only DTH type applications and 80 cm antennas for two way communications applications. Protection criteria for C band applications were also agreed. This will ensure that clients of both companies do not suffer from adjacent network interference.”
Turnkey satellite operator Shin Satellite provides a C-band and Ku-band transponder leasing, teleport and other value-added and engineering services to users in Asia, Africa, Europe and Australasia. Shin Satellite owns and operates Thaicom 1A, 2, and 3. Thaicom 1A is located at 120E, and Thaicom 2 and 3 are both located at 78.5E with a total capacity of 49 C-band and 20 Ku-band transponders offering over 70 channels. Thaicom is a hotbird for Indochina and India, an emerging platform of choice for transcontinental Sat TV broadcasts from Europe to Australia.
Asiasat claims to be the leading regional satellite operator in Asia. It serves over two-thirds of the world’s population with its satellites. The Asiasat satellite system provides services to both the broadcast and telecommunications industries. Over 120 analogue and digital television channels and 90 radio channels are now delivered by the Company’s satellites, reaching over 80 million households, with more than 300 million viewers across the Asia Pacific region. The release adds that many telecommunications customers use Asiasat for services such as public telephone networks, private VSAT networks and high speed Internet and multimedia services.
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.
