News Broadcasting
BBC Food channel launches in Scandinavia
LONDON: BBC Worldwide has announced that its channel BBC Food has launched across Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. BBC Food is the first new BBC channel to launch in Europe since 1995 when BBC Prime took to the airwaves.
As the name suggests the content deals with cuisines and the different styles of chefs including the likes of Delia Smith and Gary Rhodes. Cooking shows that viewers will feast on include Delia’s How to Cook, Ready Steady Cook with Ainsley Harriott, Lesley Waters and Kevin Woodford, and Rick Stein’s seafood series Taste of the Sea. Keith Floyd will be ‘taking coals to Newcastle’ as he teaches the new audience some of their own culinary skills as he travels around the region with his travel cookery programme, Floyd’s Fjord Fiesta.
Commenting on the launch of the channel into the market, BBC Worldwide director of channels EMEIA, Wayne Dunsford, said: “The enormous popularity of cooking programmes and the rise of celebrity chefs in television entertainment has created a great appetite for this style of British programming in the region so we are sending in our best celebrity chefs to tickle their taste-buds.”
An official release informs that BBC Food will be available to Canal Digital satellite subscribers in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. BBC Food builds on the success of the entertainment channel, BBC Prime, which has broadcast in Europe since 1995 and now reaches over 12 million international subscribers.
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.
