News Broadcasting
BBC on-demand service for archive programmes set for trial early next year
MUMBAI: A limited consumer trial of the BBC Archive in the UK is set to begin early next year, and is expected to last up to six months.
The BBC Archive is the BBC’s proposed service that would make parts of its repository of previously broadcast TV and radio content – an estimated one million hours of TV and radio programmes – available, on a public service basis, to licence fee payers on-demand via bbc.co.uk.
The trial for the BBC Archive is being undertaken in order to gather evidence about consumer demand for free archive content and its ability to create public value. It will make available 1,000 hours of content drawn from a mix of genres to a closed user environment of 20,000 triallists.
A limited amount of content – 50 hours – of both TV and radio programmes will be available in an open environment for general access. The results of the trial will inform the BBC’s future proposition for a public service archive service on bbc.co.uk, which will require approval from the BBC Trust.
BBC director of Future Media and Technology Ashley Highfield says, “As part of our commitment to making our public service content more personal, more convenient and more relevant for all our audiences, we are developing a portfolio of services to offer licence payers access to the BBC’s archive. To this end, we are planning a limited trial of the BBC Archive early next year to learn more about interaction with the BBC’s archive content on-demand via bbc.co.uk, and the public value that it delivers. Our goal is to turn the BBC into an open cultural and creative resource for the nation.”
The BBC’s future proposition for an archive service on bbc.co.uk will also encompass the BBC’s Creative Archive, which has already completed a successful 18-month pilot, which concluded in September.
The Creative Archive pilot released selected BBC television and radio content in five successive national campaigns and four regionally-based campaigns. It generated a significant level of engagement from licence fee payers with nearly 100,000 regular users, and a Bafta award for technical innovation.
The Creative Archive pilot enabled people to re-edit, use and share appropriately cleared content for their own, non-commercial creative purposes within the terms of the Creative Archive Licence Scheme in partnership with other organisations (ITN Source; British Film Institute; Channel 4; Open University; Museum, Libraries and Archive Council; Teachers’ TV; and Community Channel).
The intention would be to make selected BBC content available under the scheme within the proposed BBC Archive service, across bbc.co.uk and also within a third party web portal with partner organisations.
The BBC Archive would be an extension of the BBC’s seven-day catch-up on-demand proposals (including BBC iPlayer) which are currently undergoing a Public Value Test.
Subject to the licence fee settlement, the public service archive proposition will be further developed in light of the trials before being submitted for approval to the BBC Trust in the second half of 2007.
The trial of the BBC Archive is specifically designed to test audience demand for public service archive content and how they want to access it.
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.
