News Broadcasting
Bye Bye, Girish
It is with deep sorrow I announce that our esteemed colleague Girish Nikam is no more with us. Today evening, after recording his show ‘Big Picture’, he suffered a cardiac attack. He was immediately rushed to a hospital from the studio but he decided to say the final bye to all of us.
Girish was an integral part of RSTV, a voice of sobriety, rationale and compassion in the debates that he conducted, which became the hallmark of the channel.
He was one of the first one to join RSTV. He had never anchored before. He didn’t fit the caricature of TV anchors that Indian television has created and promoted. But, he was requested to anchor because we wanted to establish that television debates can also be about content and not just style.
Girish’s long experience in journalism qualified him for the experiment. And, how he proved it! Redefining not just the content and conduct of TV debates, but also developing a flair and style that has a huge fan following today.
Girish is gone, but he decided to go in style, right from the studio to an eternal journey. He always wanted to live actively till his last breath and, like everything else in his life, achieved this too as per his wish and on his terms!
Rajya Sabha Television will miss him. It will be difficult for anyone to emulate him in his show ‘The Big Picture’. But, he has left behind a template for serious television debates, which would certainly guide future anchors of RSTV.
I express my grief and sense of loss, which everyone in my channel shares with me. Because, besides everything else, Girish was a great human being, full of compassion, camaraderie and warmth.
Bye bye to a colleague, who was a ‘non-hypocrite’ to the extent of perfection.
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.
