News Broadcasting
BBC Urdu’s new series to examine US post 9/11
LONDON: BBC Urdu is launching a 10-part weekly series Uncle Sam ka Des (The Land of Uncle Sam) starting on 10 August 2003. The main focus of the series is to take a closer look at how the United States has changed in the two years since 9/11.
The show looks at how Pakistani immigrants from rich professionals in Houston to struggling taxi drivers of New York – feel about their adopted country and how they are coping with the new realities.
The series looks at the US’ history with special reference to native Americans, issues of race and poverty and the apparent growing influence of religion in American society. Interviews for the series were conducted over a three week period in June 2003 in Boston, New York, Washington DC, Phoenix and Houston.
Most of the Pakistanis interviewed said they had been investigated by the FBI at some point. Physicist and former consultant at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Dr Bashir Ahmed Saeed said, “They showed up at my office one day and asked questions for 90 minutes on nuclear technology and my views on Al-Qaeda.” Interestingly he is a green card holder and has been living in the US for over 30 years.
Therefore it is not surprising to note that many economic migrants, living mostly in the New York area, complained of worse treatment. One of them claims that earlier this year, FBI agents broke into the houses of a number of suspected illegal immigrants.
In the series it also comes out that thousands of people were detained and then denied access to their lawyers. Many have either been deported or had to be released after months of unlawful detention because the authorities could not find anything against them.
Pakistan’s Honorary Counsel General in Boston for 27 years Barry Hoffman noted that, “America has always been a country of immigrants who came here for freedom, liberty and a better future,” remarked Barry Hoffman. But the way present administration has targeted a particular group of immigrants in the name of homeland security, that’s going too far. It’s un-American!”
Responding to allegations of an anti-Muslim bias, US officials point out that those who carried out the 9/11 attacks did slip through the immigration network, came from a particular region and claimed to be acting in the name of a particular religion.
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.
