News Broadcasting
Bihar Election results, Modi’s visit to UK and serial blasts in Paris propel the news genre
MUMBAI: According to analysis conducted by S-Group, an Analytical arm of TAM Media Research, week 46 began with the Bihar Assembly Elections, followed by Diwali celebrations, Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK and ended on a sad note with the serial blasts in Paris, France.
TAM data says that Hindi news genre in Hindi Speaking market saw a gain of 28.28 GRPs. In Hindi news section Aaj Tak led the genre with 35.54 GRPs followed by ABP News with 28.45 GRPs and Z News with 24.49 GRPs. India TV bagged fourth place with 23.44 GRPs and News Nation grabbed fifth spot with 18.76 GRPs.
IBN 7 with 13.54 GRPs bagged sixth berth. News 24 and TEZ garnered seventh and eighth spot with 11.78 GRPs and 11.18 GRPs respectively. India News stood at ninth place with 10.26 GRPS followed by NDTV India with 9.13 GRPs on tenth spot and DD News with 4.24 GRPs on eleventh spot. Live India and Samay stood on the twelfth and thirteenth spot with 3.68 GRPs and 0.83 GRPs respectively.
The English News genre witnessed a total gain of 3.91 GRPs. Times Now led the tally with 4.32 GRPs followed by NDTV 24×7 in second place with 2.38 GRPs and India Today with 1.94 GRPs. CNN-IBN bagged fourth place with 1.40 GRPs and News 9 with 0.73 GRPs garnered the fifth spot in the genre. News X stood at sixth spot with 0.72 GRPs against 0.75 GRPs in week 45. BBC World News and CNN bagged the seventh and eighth spots with 0.29 GRPs each.
The News genre saw a rise in viewership this week. The rise was contributed due to the rise in both Reach and Time Spent. Hindi and English News genres saw a 17 per cent and 44 per cent rise with respect to (wrt) the previous week, respectively.
The major stories this week were the Bihar Assembly Elections, Attacks in Paris and Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK etc. These three stories together were given 54 per cent coverage in the Hindi news genre and 63 per cent coverage in the English News genre. Report on Diwali celebrations was also given decent coverage and received average viewership.
In the contribution of top stories to the news genre, 39 percent of viewership was devoted to results of Bihar Assembly Election, whereas PM Narendra Modi’s visit to UK got 17 percent of viewership. The serial blasts in in Paris received 6 per cent of viewership while others garnered 38 percent of the share in Hindi News genre.
In the English news genre, 47 percent of viewership was due to the results of Bihar Assembly Election and PM Narendra Modi’s visit to UK got 22 percent of viewership. The serial blasts in Paris received 8 per cent while others garnered 23 percent of viewership.
Amongst the three top stories, The serial blasts in Paris received higher viewership contribution from higher SECs- A/B, whereas Modi’s visit to the UK had a higher skew from SEC D/E. Also, it was the news on Paris that had the maximum skew from male viewers.
There was a gradual drop in coverage of the Bihar Assembly Result news throughout the week. Modi’s visit to UK witnessed the heavy coverage in mid-week. Post the serial blasts in Paris on Friday night, that news was covered heavily on Saturday.
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.
