News Broadcasting
Candidates for Martha Stewart’s version of ‘The Apprentice’ revealed
MUMBAI: American media personality Martha Stewart will welcome 16 candidates into her conference room when US broadcaster NBC’s The Apprentice: Martha Stewart kicks off next month on 21 September 2005.
Stewart’s version of the show will feature a ‘conference room’. Candidates will live in a ‘loft,’ versus a ‘boardroom’ and living in a ‘suite.’ Ranging in age from 22-42, this group of creative entrepreneurs will compete for 13 weeks to become Stewart’s first Apprentice.
The candidates include ad executives, creative directors, chefs, lawyers, designers, a magazine publisher, and a TV newscaster.
Stewart says, “I am incredibly impressed with this cast. Their poise and creativity is balanced by a tremendous entrepreneurial spirit. Many of the candidates were as accomplished or more so than I when I started to build my business. Even so, there are some explosive personalities among the candidates and they really create a lot of tension in the conference room.”
One candidate Dawn currently heads up Red Wagon Communications, a marketing and PR agency. She founded The Secret Socialite, an organisation that coordinates special events for philanthropic young professionals.
Another candidate Leslie was named one of Hispanic Business magazine’s “100 Most Influential Hispanic Americans” and previously served as the executive director of the White House Initiative on Hispanic education. A former aide to US Representative Henry Bonilla, Leslie spearheaded the Republican Party’s first multimillion-dollar advertising campaign targeting Hispanic voters.
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.
