News Broadcasting
BBC targets Indian corporate viewer from November
BBC World shifts focus to the business and corporate viewer next month. The channel has announced that the Boardroom Battles season looks at the management of small and large corporations.
The action starts with the ten part series Trouble At The Top’ which examines entrepreneurs of nightclubs, airlines and sandwiches. The programmes called Ace of Clubs, George ,Marks and Sparks, Queen of The Airways and The Earl of Sandwiches air every Saturday from 5 October at 7:40 pm with repeats on Sundays from 6 October at 2:40 pm and10:40 pm.
Another series ‘Back To The Floor sees bosses return to the shop floor to see what working conditions at their companies are like. In a woman’s prison, John Ferguson the head of the world’s largest prison company, works as a prison guard. He has never worked in a prison before. In another episode, a manager works in a Burger King restaurant in the Liverpool City Centre. The seven half hour programmes air on 21 October at 7 pm and 23 October at 1 pm.
The three part series Dangerous Company looks at how management failures lead to financial problems. It kicks off with management consultancy firm McKinsey changing the old culture of the Quaker family firm Cadbury. This started a fad among managers worldwide. The show moves on to showcase companies like BP which tried upsizing and downsizing while trying to keep up with changing trends. The episodes are called Big is Beautifull, Shrink to Fit and Love Hurts and will air Saturdays from 5 October at 1:40 pm, 5:40 pm and Sundays from 6 October at 8:40 pm.
The channel finishes the year by celebrating the work of this year’s Nobel Prize winners. Nobel Winners looks at the prize ceremonies, the annual debate Nobel Minds is one again hosted by Nik Gowing, Nobel Peace will profile the winner of this yesars Nobel Peace Prize. The channel has also lined up a special. Tolkien: Master of Middle Earth unearths the private and mythological life of writer J.R.R. Tolkien. The second film based on his book ‘The Lord of The Rings’ is due for theatrical release around the same time.
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.
