News Broadcasting
BBC, Discovery charter new territories with two new ‘Expedition’ series
MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC’s Natural History unit, in partnership with Discovery, is venturing into remote rainforests, high mountains and raging underground rivers to uncover the mysterious landscapes of Guyana and Papua New Guinea, in two epic Expedition series.
It will be shown on BBC One in 2008.
Expedition Guyana: Hidden on the northern coast of South America, the forgotten country of Guyana holds some of the most extraordinary jungle on Earth. With the forest currently under threat from loggers and their chainsaws, the Expedition Guyana team aims to discover new species in order to help Guyana protect its environment.
Living rough in a jungle camp alongside local conservationists, the team will track the animals from high in the canopy to deep within the rivers. They are in search of the giants of Guyana including the anaconda, jaguar, giant anteaters, giant turtles and the enormous Harpy eagle. Working in a pristine jungle, which has been earmarked for logging or oil exploration, the cameras will be rolling every step of the way.
The series producer Steve Greenwood says, “This incredible habitat is completely unspoilt and we’re sure it is home to some remarkable creatures. We’ll be spending a month tracking them down and capturing them on HD. We’ve got all the latest camera technology to help us: thermal cameras, remote cameras, micro and underwater cameras – but in the end it will be old fashioned field skills that are most needed to survive and find the animals in this tough jungle.”
Expedition New Guinea: New Guinea is the most species-rich island on the planet but its landscape is so inaccessible that much of the wildlife is barely known. Recent exploration has hinted at new and utterly unique species with strange adaptations thriving in the dense forests, in the depths of the impenetrable swamps and perched on the edges of the active volcanoes.
Hidden deep within this island is the deepest mystery in the whole of the tropics. A series of colossal caves pepper the hillside, most of them completely unexplored. Joined by world experts in extreme caving, the Expedition team take on this stern and drastic environment providing true and original exploration, captured on camera as it happens.
Running in parallel, other members of the expedition team will explore the rugged rainforests that drape the mountains. These missions include journeying up the Sepik River to meet the Crocodile People and the 26-foot crocodiles they share the river with; searching for strange birds of paradise, capturing on camera their bizarre rituals and mating behaviours; and exploring for Queen Alexandra birdwing butterflies, the largest butterfly in the world and one that is rapidly declining towards extinction.
The show’s executive producer Tim Martin says, “New Guinea will be our toughest expedition yet. Sheer mountains and tangled forests make its interior hard to navigate and disputes between rival tribes are an added complication we’ll have to cope with. But the rewards should be great – birds of paradise, tree kangaroos and whole forests that scientists have yet to investigate. And beneath the ground lies a vast system of caves, much of which has never been explored.
“The observational style of our Expedition brand, as seen on Expedition Borneo, Amazon Abyss and Pacific Abyss, captures the dramas of expedition life and gives a real sense of what it’s like to explore some of the world’s last great wildernesses. Tourists and film crews tend to visit the same well known National Parks and our approach is to go much deeper into the wilds, to places that haven’t yet felt the impact of humans.”
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.
