News Broadcasting
BBC World Service teams up with IGP to build ‘My Perfect Country’
MUMBAI: BBC World Service will be launching a compelling new six-part series titled My Perfect Country teaming up with the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP) to build the perfect country.
The series is presented by the broadcaster and writer Fi Glover and will air from 4 February.
My Perfect Country will track down ideas, which have helped solve common problems in countries around the world and look at whether they can be adopted elsewhere. As the series develops, it will build up a blueprint of what the perfect country might be.
Digital evangelist and business leader Martha Lane Fox and UCL Institute for Global Prosperity director Professor Henrietta Moore will join Glover and use their expertise to bring the people and ideas behind successful policies to the BBC World Service audience.
BBC World Service English controller Mary Hockaday said, “The news agenda is full of trials and tribulations but all over the world people are tackling challenges with energy and creativity and coming up with imaginative ideas to solve problems. My Perfect Country brings a fresh outlook focused on sharing solutions. This series will harness the global reach of BBC World Service journalism and engage our audiences in how to make the world a better place.”
With the help of data analysis and research from the IGP, each week the series will focus on a political, economic or social problem and work through it by finding somewhere on the globe where it has been addressed successfully.
In collaboration with reporters, academics and analysts, the trio will break policies apart and ask how and why they worked, and crucially whether they could be applied elsewhere.
Featuring in this series are Estonia’s digital state, Costa Rica’s clean energy policy, a grassroots approach to law and order in Uganda, a ‘zero-suicide model’ in America, innovative sanitation solutions for women in India and Portugal’s radical drug reform.
Glover said, “My Perfect Country is a bit of a journalist’s dream – the one that you are usually shaken awake from in order to report on the daily diet of things that have gone wrong in the world. In this series we get a chance to meet just some of the people who have made their bits of the world go right – I cannot wait to get started.”
Lane Fox added, “Sometimes I lie awake wondering what it would be like to start a country from scratch, it’s a once in a lifetime chance to have a go!”
Professor Moore asserted, “It is wonderful to be working with the World Service on this forward-thinking project that celebrates innovations from around the world. As we work to achieve sustainable and inclusive prosperity, this series gives us a chance to examine what works for prosperity, and why.”
To run alongside the series, BBC World Service will also produce online resources, also informed by data provided by IGP, which will allow audiences to work out their own perfect country, based on their own needs and preferences.
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.
