News Broadcasting
CNN IBN to look at royal kitchens in the 5th season of Secret Kitchen
NEW DELHI: Secret Kitchen in its fifth run on CNN-IBN will this year join foodie Bikramjit Ray to take an inside look at the royal cuisines of India.
The series brings an entire cornucopia of flavours from across the royal kitchens and will also explore exotic royal cuisines from different parts of the country like Varanasi, Gujarat, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Hyderabad.
Ray will go inside royal homes and palaces to get the best kept secrets from within the kitchens of the Maharajas and Maharanis – the favourite feudal recipes of India. This season of Secret Kitchen begins from 5 June every Saturday at 1:30 pm and 6:30 pm.
The shows will feature legends of Indian food ranging from master chefs like Imtiaz Qureshi who researched and revived the forgotten cuisine of the nawabs of Awadh and pioneering food columnist, author and restaurant consultant Jiggs Kalra to industrialist Rocky Mohan whose Zila Kebabpur chain of eateries is credited with reviving the heritage Mughlai cuisine and the iconic MTR Group whose rich culinary heritage dates back to 1924. The series will also look at the flavours of railway food, savour various palette tickling Biryanis and also examine the best places to eat should one experience post midnight hunger pangs.
Speaking about the new season of Secret Kitchen, IBN18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai said, “In this season we bring our viewers the cuisine of the royal kitchens of India which has delighted the aristocracy of the country for generations, but the dishes have remained closely guarded secrets by the master chefs of royal India. We are sure the new season of Secret Kitchen will tantalise the taste buds of viewers with an inside look at the secret recipes of our great nation.”
News Broadcasting
Network18 trims FY26 losses as Q4 revenue touches Rs 1,955 crore, 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.
