News Broadcasting
Boogie Woogie set to unveil dancing wonders
MUMBAI: Now that’s top of the pops.
Sony Entertainment Television will be presenting a star-studded National finals of its popular talent hunt Boogie Woogie, on 14 January and 21 January 2004.
After a successful tenure of over seven years, the show is all set to re-launched as a nationwide talent hunt. The team had launched a hunt and auditions were held in many cities.
Produced, directed and anchored by Ravi Behl and Naved Jaferi, the show will be telecast as one-hour special episodes with special performances by Malaika Arora Khan, Koena Mitra, VJ Sophia Chaudhary, Shakti Kapoor, choreographer Ganesh Acharya and Mona ‘Jassi’ Singh. Incidentally, Acharya was in the jury.
While speaking to indiantelevision.com Behl offered, “We were constantly getting feedback from viewers, all across the country that we need to give them an easier access to participate in the show. People from the interior parts of the country found it difficult to travel all the way to Mumbai, so we, along with Sony officials worked out the national hunt.”
During the first step, the team arranged for auditions in the east zone cities – Kolkata and Jamshedpur followed by North zone – Delhi and Chandigarh. Lastly in the west zone in Mumbai and Goa. The auditions was held under three categories: duo- man and woman freestyle, children under 14 and group dance. The team has canned 11 episodes in each zone; 33 episodes in total. The zonal selection episodes have already been aired.
And why wasn’t the south and the central zone included? Behl offers, “We decide to organise the hunt based on the letters, e-mails and phone calls we received. What we found was that there weren’t as many responses from these zones. In case people want us to, we will be happy to travel there as well.”
Although Behl wasn’t keen on disclosing the identity of the winners, he did offer that besides winning the coveted trophy, the winners will also be rewarded the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to feature in a Sony music video and a one-month free training at Kishore Namit Kapoor’s Acting Academy.
Behl: “Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahi”
When asked about the highlight of the show, Behl said that it would be Mona Singh’s performance. Apparently the dame, although dressed in her usual attire, gave a great performance.
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.
