News Broadcasting
BSE, NDTV in joint initiative for live ticker, video screen
MUMBAI: Prannoy Roy’s NDTV has pulled off a market positioning coup with the unveiling this morning of BSE Broadcast, a joint initiative between the news media major and the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The front facade of the BSE building in south Mumbai’s Fort area will now show a stock ticker that will display all the indices at the BSE as well as individual stock information till 8 pm daily. Additionally, a large videoscreen put up below BSE’s live ticker will continuously beam business channel NDTV Profit.
The ten-year deal involves NDTV Media providing the technology for the Indian version of New York’s Times Square.
While lauding the effort as “an overdue initiative to enable the man in the street to read the writing on the wall”, Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman M Damodaran used the occasion to send across a tough message to sections of the electronic and print media against what he termed as “agenda driven attempts being passed off as information to the unsuspecting”.
“If you look at what is coming out in the media, it is personal involvement masquerading as informed advice. We will find a way to deal with that in the interest of the average investor,” Damodaran said.
Roy said: “All stock markets must have transparency, credibility and provide information as widely as possible.
“We are very, very proud at NDTV Profit to be associated with this exercise.”
BSE managing director and CEO Rajnikant Patel said the initiative was symbolic of a greater transformation going on in India’s capital markets, which were moving towards stronger systems and more transparency and credibility.
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.
