News Broadcasting
Broadcasters spending billions archiving content: BTBS
HONG KONG: Media companies are estimated to be hoarding 6,700 years worth of TV, film and music content, costing them billions of pounds a year.
A recent report commissioned by BT Broadcast Services (BTBS) and compiled by Datamonitor, finds that this investment is also a sunk cost as most of the archived material is never used again, although the research suggests that digitising the archives and making them available online could finance the costs of today’s lost footage.
The white paper, ‘Digital Content Management and the True Cost – Staying Analogue’, highlights the spiralling costs and ignorance that surrounds archived content. Data for the report was collected over two years through interviews with senior executives from the TV, film and music industries.
Over the course of the research, Datamonitor was unable to find a single company that could accurately estimate the cost of keeping and distributing archived material. The research found that the average cost per hour of traditional archived content is 38, which includes: labour costs, physical storage, re-formatting and renewal. It cost an additional 75 to find, re-edit and distribute this content for re-use.
Despite these costs and the burgeoning use of digital technology, nearly all content is stored in analogue format, the report finds that digital storage would save 16 per hour on re-formatting costs alone. The average cost of delivering analogue content is estimated to be 75. The paper predicts that by 2004, 44 per cent of all new TV content will be digital.
Head of content services at BTBS David Jamieson said, “It’s not surprising that media owners are afraid of the digital revolution, after all most technological changes cost money and are complex and disrupting processes. But the true cost of doing nothing is astronomical and not an option anymore – particularly when you consider the huge, untapped revenue streams that a well publicised, digital archive represents.”
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.
