News Broadcasting
CNBC-TV18 addresses gender divide in finance with ‘Financial Quotient’
Mumbai: English business news channel CNBC-TV18 is launching a special series “Financial Quotient” that caters to women in their journey towards financial freedom. The first season of the show goes live on 3 September at 2 p.m and will air every Friday.
The channel has roped in Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund and Zebpay as sponsors for the show.
The show will be hosted by CNBC-TV18, deputy editor, Sumaira Abidi and each episode will focus on contemporary and relevant topics such as investing for the first time, insurance, estate planning, risk profiling, assessment, inheritance management, reviewing and consolidation of investments, etc.
It will also shed light on aspects such as retirement planning, maternity planning and career breaks, thus keeping women at the centre of the conversation. Additionally, the show will focus on providing wealth solutions for the entire family, making it relevant to men as well.
“The growing share of women opting for credit, opening trading accounts, investing in mutual funds and equity markets and checking CIBIL scores clearly points to the emergence of a healthy appetite for investment-related guidance among the female audience,” said the channel in a statement.
“Fund your dreams, fund your freedom, it’s your time. This is the central theme behind ‘Financial Quotient’. We could not have been prouder to bring such a unique and powerful content offering to our women audience in this form,” said Network18, chief executive officer, business news, Smriti Mehra. “As a nation, we have faced some very tough challenges in the last 1.5 years, and our endeavour as a brand has always been to be the best possible ally to our audience in their journey towards wealth creation and financial planning. Our women and money series is simply the natural progression to carry this philosophy forward.”
“We have held several impactful and large-scale initiatives over the years that have propagated investment awareness,” said Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, managing director and chief executive officer, A Balasubramanian. “While our efforts have been recognised, our pursuit to spread financial education is relentless and we have now embarked on an ambitious journey with For HER – one of the largest financial literacy initiatives aimed at women in India in collaboration with The Women’s Collection, and we aim to reach over 10 million women across the country in next three years.”
“ZebPay’s Women’s DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) is an all-women-led decision-making project that uses blockchain technology. The goal of this initiative is to promote more women in ZebPay’s leadership roles by providing a supportive environment and also create new programs for higher engagement with women customers,” said ZebPay, co-chief executive officer, Avinash Shekhar.
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.
