News Broadcasting
CNBC distribution team in place
MUMBAI: CNBC TV18 has set up a distribution team to take care of the positioning of all its channels, an indications of the hot battle broadcasters are engaged in to occupy prime slots on cable networks.
The task of the 17-member dedicated team, many of whom have been poached from NDTV India, will involve negotiating and paying “placement fees” to cable operators. Piyush Goyal is at the head while three regional managers have been appointed to take care of the north and east, west and south.
Though Zee-Turner distributes the CNBC TV18 bouquet of channels, the internal team will focus on the band positioning of the channels. Continuous interaction with cable operators and mapping of the placement of the channels will form part of the affiliate management responsibility.
The CNBC TV18 team will also take care of the channels to be launched by Broadcast News, a newly floated Rajdeep Sardesai-Sameer Manchanda venture backed and funded by Raghav Bahl’s TV 18. Sources say CNBC’s focus is to pay largely for S-band positions on cable networks.
NDTV also has an internal team to maintain relationship with affiliates, despite being distributed by SET-Discovery’s One Alliance. The company has made payments to cable operators for grabbing prime band positions on many networks across the country.
It is not only news channels that are creating and expanding their distribution teams, even though they have struck alliances with platforms for distribution of their channels. Sources say The Walt Disney Company (India) is also planning to expand its internal team. Though distributed by Star India, Disney had set up a dedicated team with a head and regional managers to monitor the carriage of its channels.
Even distribution platform Zee-Turner has created a special team within the organisation to deal with band placement of channels. “With more channels competing within the same genre and cable networks lacking bandwidth, placement is hardly available and become important. Distribution companies, who were earlier focussing on sales, are realising that they need to change,” says a senior executive of a leading distribution company.
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.
