News Broadcasting
BBC shortlists three bidders for HR services
MUMBAI: UK pubcaster,BBC has announced a shortlist of bidders selected to the final round in the procurement process for the partial outsourcing of HR Services for the corporation. The three companies that have madeit to the third stage of the bidding process are Accenture, Capita and Xchanging. The three finalists were chosen because of their strategic and service delivery capability.
The bids received from the long listed bidders were of high quality and through a rigorous EU procurement process conducted by BBC’s evaluation team.BBC People director ,Stephen Dando said, “We have been impressed by the quality of the bids and all three bidders deserve to have reached the shortlist stage. We look forward to working with them more closely over the next few months and, as our timetable to complete the process is on track, we envisage announcing the winning bidder early in the New Year.”
Final negotiations are expected to take place at the end of this year and the contract with the successful supplier is due to become operational from spring 2006. The procurement process follows an internal review which proposed that a number of services should be outsourced. The review team identified this as one of the measures to help put extra resources into programmes as part of BBC’s radical plans to transform the organisation into a simpler and more creative digital broadcaster.
The areas where BBC is looking for a supplier to undertake are recruitment, remuneration, development, HR administration services, relocation, occupational health services and disability access services. The preference is to award one contract for all of the services, however BBC will award more than one contract where it is deemed commercially advantageous to do so, or where this is necessary to achieve the required service standards.
Hewitt Associates declined to respond to the Request for Proposal on the grounds that our outsourcing proposal does not fit with Hewitt Associates’ outsourcing approach.
BBC says that its staff and unions are being kept fully informed during the process. BBC People was formed in 2001, bringing together for the first time the vast majority of BBC’s functional HR specialists. The division supports the whole employment process. It supports BBC staff, casuals and some freelances based within multiple UK locations and internationally, and deals with the significant ‘churn’ associated with new hires/leavers.
News Broadcasting
Network18 posts Rs 1,955 crore revenue, narrows FY26 losses
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.
