News Broadcasting
Channel 7 news director Arup Ghosh quits
MUMBAI:Arup Ghosh, news director of Channel 7, the news channel from the Jagran group, has put in his papers after a short stint there.
Contacted by Indiantelevision.com, Ghosh confirmed the move, saying, “I joined in December and, along with some other senior people, built up a team that is now fit to run a news channel. I think, it’s time for me to look at other ventures now.”
Ghosh, reportedly, put in his papers today citing personal reasons. His future course of action is not known yet, though there are talks of “some options” available with him.
Jagran TV director Siddhartha Gupta told Indiantelevision.com that the parting was “amicable.”
Later in the evening, an official statement hailed Ghosh’s “invaluable contributions as a founding member of Channel 7” and wished him “the very best” in his future ventures.
Broadcast industry sources indicated that after being instrumental in launching two news channels, Sahara Samay Rashtriya and Channel 7, Ghosh would find it difficult to get that type of challenges and satisfaction in existing news ventures.
Ghosh, a print medium journalist migrated to television towards the end of the last century when he joined NDTV. Towards the beginning of this decade, Ghosh, along with another NDTV staffer, Shireen, joined the Sahara group to spearhead its national news channel. Both Shireen and Ghosh quit Sahara last year.
Channel 7, where Ghosh joined in December last as its news director, went formally on air 2 April, promising different treatment to its programming tilted towards non-fiction and hopped on to a DTH platform at the same time to increase its reach, which is supplemented by the cable networks it is managing to ride.
The channel, which has been set up to cater to the vast Hindi-speaking audiences, has lined up several innovative shows like Giraftaar that do not have any anchor, but is a seamless series of crime stories.
The launch of Channel 7, managed by Jagran TV Pvt Ltd, marks the entry of Dainik Jagran, a dominant print medium player, into the TV broadcasting arena. The free-to-air Hindi satellite channel has also confident of securing a presence in 28 million households, across 300 cities in the first month of operations itself, which, incidentally, is today.
The news channel segment is once again witnessing churning as the turnover in various media
organisations is rising. A reason could be some of the big names of Indian television trying to strike out on their own. This includes former managing editor of NDTV, Rajdeep Sardesai, too, who has promised a news product that would be different.
The Rs. 5,500 million news television market is dominated by the present market leader Aaj Tak, which has managed to hang on to the numero uno position for several years, followed by two NDTV channels.
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.
