News Broadcasting
BBC’s show ‘Newsnight’ turns 25
MUMBAI: On 30 January UK broadcaster BBC Two’s show Newsnight celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Over the past 25 years Newsnight has reported on major news stories from the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Falklands War, US strikes on Libya and the current Iraq war.
At the time of launch the collaboration between the news and current affairs departments was a radical approach.
The programme aimed to give the team the time and opportunity to focus on stories in greater detail, but was not universally popular.
The launch date was put back after the management team failed to reach an agreement with the unions. Perhaps the most famous moment in the programme’s history is Jeremy Paxman’s interview with the then Home Secretary Michael Howard in which he asked the same question 12 times. The question was whether or not he had threatened to overrule the director general of the prison service.
The first Newsnight report on the fall of the Berlin Wall also caused a stir.
While Peter Snow hosted a discussion in East Germany, reporter Olenka Frenkiel turned up in the studio carrying a large chunk of the wall, the first proof for many that the symbol of division really was coming down.
More recent highlights include the Tony Blair tuition fees special in which the Prime Minister took questions from the studio audience, including 19-year-old medical student Julia Prague who forcefully told the PM exactly why she believed a dustman should fund her degree.
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.
