News Broadcasting
ATN International and Win TV in partnership talks
MUMBAI: ATN International is in advanced stage of negotiations with Chennai-based Win TV to partner for Bengali news on ATN World, aimed at the West Bengal and Bangladesh market.
“We are also talking of a possibility of equity participation from Win TV,” says ATN International managing director Santosh Jain. ATN International, a listed company, is planning to introduce six news bulletins on Bengali general entertainment channel ATN World.
Win TV owns and operates a Tamil and a Kannada language channel and wants to expand into the Bengali language space with news content. “News is essential if we are to survive. We expect to garner an annual revenue of Rs 10 million from news,” says Jain.
ATN is planning to launch the channel in Bangladesh, for which it is in talks with a local company which has major interests in power, aviation and textiles. Two teams have already visited ATN office in Kolkata and an internal due diligence has been done. “We are in the final stages of negotiations for a marketing and programming tie up. The group, which plans to diversify into media business, is to fund our operations in Bangladesh,” says Jain. He, however, did not reveal the name of the Bangladesh-based company.
Stiff competition from the other Bengali channels and a slow-growing regional market is threatening ATN World. The company hopes that a partnership with Win TV and the Bangladesh-based company will provide for funding and news content.
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.
