News Broadcasting
BBC World Service plans tribute for Tsunami affected regions
MUMBAI: Six months have passed since the natural disaster Tsunami affected Indonesia, The Maldives, Sri Lanka and Somalia. The BBC World Service is launching The Tsunami Audio Memorial, a project aimed at creating an audio tribute to the region
The BBC is asking people who live in the Southern Asian region which was affected by the Tsunami, visited it or have family there, to contact them via a dedicated phone line and email address and send in their audio recordings.
Over the next six months, BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Asian Network will be gathering sounds and stories that evoke the colour, vibrancy and diversity of the region, as well as the events of 26 December 2004 and their aftermath.
These will be crafted into a series of programmes to be broadcast on the networks at the end of the year. The BBC is hoping that the resulting audio database will find a home and be accessible to anyone as a living memorial. The BBC states that the inspiration for the project comes from the Sonic Memorial Project in the US.
After the 9/11 attacks four years ago National Public Radio had asked American listeners to contribute their sounds and stories about the World Trade Center.
The areas affected by the Tsunami are rich in sound. Whether the evocations are of Indonesian fishermen bringing in their early morning catch, conch shells being blown at dawn or the cacophony of a traffic-filled street in Thailand – or stories and sounds related to the tsunami itself, such as mobile phone messages, holiday videos or the noise of reconstruction – the aim of the BBC’s Tsunami Audio Memorial project is to commemorate the region and its people.
BBC World Service editor world programmes Maria Balinska says, “This is a very exciting and ambitious project. By reaching out to people all over the world, we hope to create a fitting tribute to those affected by the tsunami tragedy.”
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.
