News Broadcasting
BBC Worldwide’s Brdcast, Resources divisions on sale
MUMBAI: The times are a changing at BBC Worldwide. Earlier this month the BBC’s commercial arm sold its women’s magazine Eve to UK publishing group Haymarket.
Now media reports indicate that BBC Broadcast and BBC Resources could be the next to go.
Next month BBC Worldwide’s board is expected to approve a plan which involves selling five businesses. This will lead to several hundred job losses and disposals of non-core businesses such as audio books and educational publishing.
A report in The Guardian states that the sale of BBC Broadcast is imminent. The corporation is expected to put out an ad to this effect in trade publications next month. BBC Broadcast is involved in among other things designing the look, feel of channels. BBC’s channels make up 80 per cent of BBC Broadcast’s business. BBC Broadcast employs about 1,000 people in three divisions.
Meanwhile BBC Resources’ divisions include studios, costumes and outside broadcast (for sports ). The management is said to be keen to put long-term contracts in place with the BBC before any sale. BBC Worldwide is also looking for joint venture partners for its audio books division. For BBC Learning the corporation is already talking to educational publishers such as Pearson in the UK.
After Eve other publications that the BBC is expected to sell from the magazine division include Your Hair. Rivals such as IPC and Emap were disappointed that the BBC did not decide to sell more of its top-selling magazines. However the BBC is said to be determined not to sell Radio Times.
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.
