News Broadcasting
Balsara restructures Madison Media
MUMBAI: Sam’s at it again. The chairman of the Madison group, has restructured Madison Media, which has been ranked as the top media agency in the country, in order to “provide focused attention to large businesses and reward the senior talent pool of Madison Media, giving them more authority and responsibility,” says a company press release.
What Sam has done is that he has made Madison Media the mother brand with four other units under it, Madison Media Alpha, Madison Media Sigma, Madison Media Infinity and Madison Media Plus. Earlier, Madison Media coexisted with Madison Media Infinity and Madison Media Plus. Now two new units – Alpha and Sigma – have been created while the other two existing ones have been brought under the Madison Media Group.
Each of the four sub units is headed by a chief operating officer. While Alpha is spearheaded by Neelkamal Sharma, Infiinity’s man at the helm is Karthik Lakshminarayan, Sigma’s COO is Vanita Keshwani and Plus has Basabdatta Chowdhuri as its head. All the four will report in to Madison Media group CEO Punitha Arumugam.
Says Balsara, “An organisation needs to evolve. We respond and shape the environment improve quality of service we provide to our clients. Each of these will function as an SBU.”
Adds Punitha, “We now have a flatter structure which will provide greater focus to our clients business.”
While Alpha will have Procter & Gamble and Gillette as its main clients, Sigma will handle other mumbai accounts, Infinity will have Marico and Plus will service Airltel, explains Balsara.
He adds, “This reorganisation once again re-emphasizes that Madison has developed the ability to develop managerial talent and whenever an opportunity arises we are able to fill the slots with internal resources rather than look outside.”
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.
