News Broadcasting
Casbaa gets a strong lineup for convention
MUMBAI: The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has unveiled its conference program for the Casbaa Convention 2006 in Hong Kong, tagged From Bandwidth to Brandwidth.
The event takes place from 24-27 October 2006.
The event will focus on Focussing on maximising the value of newly-available communications bandwidth via sophisticated brand development and innovative marketing. The speakers are US DTH platform chairman and founder Charlie Ergen, multi-national pay-TV platform operator Liberty Global CEO Michael Fries, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom chairman Ho-Chen Tan, GroupM Global CEO Irwin Gotlieb, UK regulator Ofcom’s chief policy partner Kip Meek, HD Vision Studios president, Randall Dark, Indonesia Minister of State for information and communications Indonesia, Sofyan Djalil and Hunan Satellite president Wei Wen Bin.
Casbaa chairman Marcel Fenez says, “Annually, this is the most important gathering for our industry in Asia. While the market is rightly dazzled by the promise of the new technologies, our most urgent task is to identify new business models and the most creative content as we develop a better understanding of what is achievable within the diverse Asian marketplace. That’s the theme for Casbaa 2006.”
The event will feature dedicated sessions on South Asia (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and a look at the key emerging markets of Indonesia and Vietnam, along with special forums on IPTV, mobile video and HDTV. There will also be a special session on Japan.
Casbaa also announced details of the Casbaa TV Advertising Awards 2006, which this year are supported by a month-long ad campaign targeted at creative directors and scheduled to run on more than 20 regional pay-TV channels.
Casbaa director of events Kevin Jennings says, “We believe that our campaign, developed with a worldwide agency partner to promote the Awards, will attract a record number of amazing entries to this year’s competition.”
“The Casbaa TV Awards 2006 have been designed to highlight that marrying creative options with the power of television remains the most inventive of advertising mediums as the industry moves beyond traditional ad placement into on-line integration, program sponsorship, ad-funded content production and off-air events and promotions.”
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.
