News Broadcasting
Brian Williams to leave CNBC show
NEW YORK: As he prepares to succeed Tom Brokaw as the anchor of the NBC Nightly News after the 2004 presidential election, Brian Williams is shedding a high-profile assignment on one of the network’s cable channels.
Beginning in January, CNBC’s The News with Brian Williams will have a different anchor, NBC News announced on 10 November. Williams has been the anchor of the one-hour, prime-time news program on CNBC since July 2002, when NBC News shifted it from a sister channel, MSNBC, to make room for the short-lived return to television of Phil Donahue.
“We are heading into an incredibly busy news cycle in 2004 with the primary season, the conventions, the Olympics and the elections,” NBC News president Neal Shapiro said. “With the transition at ‘Nightly’ on the horizon, it’s more important than ever that Williams is able to turn his full attention to the network for the coverage of these stories.”
Nonetheless, the change comes when the ratings for Williams’s program are substantially lower than a year ago. In October the program drew an average of 439,000 viewers, a decrease of 41 per cent from the same month a year ago, when its average viewership was 743,000, according to Nielsen Media Research.
But NBC executives said that the decision to relieve Williams of his duties had nothing to do with ratings, and that they considered such comparisons unfair. In October 2002, they said, Williams’ ratings – along with those of other news programs – were unusually high because of coverage of the sniper shootings in the Washington area.
Last month, they pointed out that Williams was frequently absent from his program, as he traveled to Rome (for the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II) and to California (for the recall election) on behalf of NBC News.
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.
