News Broadcasting
BBC World’s Husain wins prestigious Asian Women of Achievement Award
MUMBAI: BBC World news presenter Mishal Husain has been named the Young Achiever of the Year at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in London.The annual ceremony, now in its fifth year, celebrates the professional and personal accomplishments of successful and inspirational Asian women in Britain. The Young Achiever of the Year award recognises “any woman under 30 who has done something incredible or inspirational, or is simply the best at what she does.
Mishal has been a key presenter on BBC World since October 2000. She is a highly talented broadcaster and one of the most familiar faces in television news around the globe. Most recently, she has been seen hosting bulletins each weekday evening (GMT) on the BBCs commercially funded 24-hour international news and information television channel, which is available in 260 million homes globally. She has also recently begun co-presenting editions of Breakfast on BBC ONE in the UK.
Mishal is particularly well known as a presenter in the fiercely competitive television market in the United States and has played an integral role in establishing BBC World as an authoritative source of television news there. In 2002 and 2003, she was based within the BBCs news bureau in Washington DC, and has returned to the US capital this year, closely monitoring and covering the 2004 Presidential elections.
In the past year, Husain has appeared on the cover of the Financial Times Magazine in the UK, and among her other significant press clippings has been an interview with Vanity Fair.
BBC World, head of news, Caroline Howie said, “Mishal is an incredibly able and versatile broadcaster. She combines great personal qualities of warmth and humanity with the highest professional standards, and thoroughly deserves to be recognised with this award.”
Mishals family is originally from Pakistan but she was born in the UK in 1973 and grew up in the Middle East. Graduating in Law from Cambridge University in 1995, she completed a Masters in that subject at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Mishal was the launch presenter of BBC Worlds Asia Business Report in October 2000, when she was based in Singapore. She returned to London some months later to present the channels flagship financial programme, World Business Report.
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.
