News Broadcasting
BBC, ESPN win at Webbys 2002
The Webby Awards – run by the The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences – are the pinnacle of recognition that Internet sites receive from the industry for excellence in the online realm. And in its sixth edition, the Webbys saw quite a few media firms getting a pat on their backs for their Internet forays.
The BBC pocketed two awards – one for Best News and the second for Best Radio. The Osbournes a reality show focusing on rock star Ozzy Osbourne’s family bagged one for best television. Search engine Google pocketed the best practices award for the second year in succession for serving as a model of excellence.
Several sites walked away with both a Webby Award and a People’s Voice Award, which is decided by public vote. Dual winners included espn.com for Best Sports, Lonely Planet Online; Amazon.com for Best Commerce; The Onion for Best Humor; epicurious.com for Best Living; and evite.com for Best Services.
The sixth year of the Webbys witnessed a record number of entries – indicating that the disgruntlement by the business world with the Internet was easing off. Entries from 36 nations came in. Among these: AllAfrica.com (Mauritius-News), Debkafile (Israel-News), BBC News Online (United Kingdom-News), Freemuse (Denmark-Music), RTE Interactive Radio (Ireland-Radio), and The Vatican (Vatican City-Spirituality).
“This year’s winners and nominees surely live up to the title ‘world wide’,” Webby Awards founder Tiffany Shlain reportedly told the attendees at the awards ceremony. “The Webby Awards are proud to honor the Web sites that are setting the standards for the medium and bringing the world online.”
Three new awards- The Rising Star Award, the Top Global Site and the Top US site – were unfurled at the Webby Awards 2002. These recognise sites that excel at attracting visitors and were presented in partnership with Nielsen//NetRatings.
The winners of the three awards were the following in the order stated: self-assessment site Emode, Yahoo! and AOL.com.
The list of winners:
ACTIVISIM: tolerance.org
BEST PRACTICES: Google
BROADBAND: GUGGENHEIM.COM
COMMERCE: Amazon.com
COMMUNITY: Idealist.org
EDUCATION: Exploratorium
FASHION: ZOOZOOM.com Magazine
FILM: Donnie Darko
FINANCE: Yahoo! Finance
GAMES: Netbaby
GOVERNMENT and LAW: Library of Congress
HEALTH: teenwire.com
HUMOR: The Onion
KIDS: OLogy
LIVING: epicurious.com
MUSIC: LOOPLABS
NET ART: 360degrees
NEWS: BBC News
PERSONAL SITE: The Committee to Free Lori Berenson
POLITICS: Center for Responsive Politics
PRINT and ZINES: Salon.com
RADIO: BBC Radio 4 website
SCIENCE: Becoming Human
SERVICES: evite
SPIRITUALITY: BeliefNet
SPORTS: ESPN.com
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT : David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
TRAVEL: Lonely Planet Online
TELEVISION: The Osbournes
WEIRD: Devices of Wonder
RISING STAR: Emode
TOP U.S. PROPERTY: AOL
TOP GLOBAL PROPERTY: Yahoo!
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.
