News Broadcasting
BBC, Discovery to jointly explore `Oceans’
MUMBAI: The hidden stories of our planet’s oceans are to be told in a new BBC commission, Ocean, a documentary series for late 2008/early 2009. This is a co-production with Discovery and will be filmed in HD.
The proposed team of intrepid adventurers – explorer Paul Rose, maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue and marine biologist Tooni Mahto – will take a journey to explore the oceans of planet earth. Hidden in these unknown depths are stories that reveal new truths about our past, our planet and the life within it.
In Ocean, the international team of underwater explorers brave the dangers of the deep to unravel these mysteries.This series will tell stories from the world of underwater archaeology, geology, marine biology and anthropology.
It will take in everything from great white sharks to lost cities buried undersea to divers who try to fathom the mysterious life forms of the deep. Filming starts in June 2007 in the Mediterranean and will finish in June 2008.
The show’s executive producer Anne Laking said: “It took us nearly a year to find the right people to present such an exciting new series. They needed to have the right balance of robust scientific knowledge, first-class diving skills as well as genuine drive, passion and thirst for high octane adventure.
“The series will show the ocean as it’s never been seen before. We’ll use cutting-edge techniques to delve into this unknown world of our wonderful planet.
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.
