News Broadcasting
BBC Worldwide unveils slate for ATF
MUMBAI: From Sir David Attenborough to Jeremy Clarkson, Michael Palin to Jane Austen, Cinderella to Igglepiggle, UK pubcaster the BBC ‘s commercial arm BBC Worldwide goes to this year’s Asia Television Forum (ATF) in Singapore with a crop of natural history, factual, children’s, drama and lifestyle titles and a range of formats that will be available for local production.
BBC Worldwide’s natural history slate opens new chapters while drawing others to a close. Wild China, the BBC’s first ever co-production in China, offers insight into that country. Life in Cold Blood, which tells the epic story of reptiles and amphibians, completes Sir David Attenborough’s landmark overview of life on the planet.
In the drama catalogue, Mistresses stars Sarah Parish and Sharon Small. It follows the lives and loves of a group of 30-something girlfriends. Fairy Tales, whose cast includes James Nesbitt and Denise Van Outen, offers grown-up adaptations of four childhood classics – Cinderella, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Billy Goat’s Gruff and Rapunzel.
Andrew Davies, who had earlier adapted Bleak House and Pride and Prejudice for the pubcaster has now turned his hand to Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, while the team behind Primeval present a re-imagining of Frankenstein and the team behind Hotel Babylon present The Whistleblowers, a new high-speed thriller.
From the BBC’s factual, lifestyle and history teams come Warriors. This is a show based on the lives of men such as Napoleon and Spartacus who shaped the world around them. Michael Palin’s New Europe sees the comedian and traveller continue his global odyssey, this time exploring the countries that are part of the so-called new Europe. The motoring magazine show Top Gear will also be showcased.
BBC Worldwide’s children’s catalogue includes In The Night Garden, a modern interpretation of a nursery rhyme picture book from Ragdoll, the creators of Teletubbies, and two new animation series: Animalia, based on the hugely popular books by Graeme Base, and Freefonix, an adventure series following three musical renegades.
New formats include Dance X, recently licensed to ABC in the US, which pits rival dance teams against each other. Find Me The Face is a reality show which follows two top talent scouts as they look to find the next big supermodel. On Fortune – Million Pound Giveaway, five philanthropists give away a million pounds of their own money to deserving members of the public. School’s Out is a quiz show which sends celebrities back to school and tests whether they are top or bottom of the class.
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.
