News Broadcasting
Country specific seminars to form major highlight of Frames 2004
MUMBAI: Star TV CEO Michelle Guthrie could well be the star attraction at the fourth edition of Frames, that gets underway in Mumbai on 15 March this year.
Guthrie will deliver an extensive presentation on 17 March on the topic Building a Valuable Television Industry – The Global experience. as well as be part of a roundtable on lessons learnt from the Asia Pacific pay television markets. The Federation of Indian Chambers, Commerce & Industry’s (Ficci) convention for the entertainment industry will be held, as in earlier years, at the Renaissance Convention centre in Powai in suburban Mumbai.
In an attempt to foster better co-operation in the fields of film and other forms of entertainment between India and other countries, three country specific sessions have been designed.
These involve the UK, Australia and the Asia-Pacific. Doing Business With the UK will speakers such as Pathe Pictures’ Mike Runagali and UK Film Council’s international department head Clare Wise. Despite the fact that India and the UK have been doing business for years, films form a meagre portion of this business. The panel will cover different aspects related to film such as raising finance, legal issues, distribution setups and marketing strategies.
The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) will conduct a session on lessons learnt from the Asia Pacific pay television markets. Casbaa’s CEO Simon Twiston Davies will chair the session. The speakers include Celestial Pictures’ CEO William Pfeiffer, CNBC Asia Pacific’s CEO Alexander Brown, Star TV CEO Michelle Guthrie.
The session Doing Business With Australia will be hosted by Filmandcasting Temple’s Anupam Sharma. On the domestic front, there will be a session with policy makers on 15 March. This will feature representatives from the governments of ten states including Maharshtra, Goa, Punjab and Karnataka.
In addition to all this activity, Ernst & Young will present its report on the status of our entertainment industry in the inaugural session. It will look at the consolidation taking place as well as the qualitative aspects of the different segments. E&Y conducted an Internet survey asking key industry people to dwell on the crucial issues and challenges they face as well as gains made. The firm also conducted interviews with officials from the I&B Ministry on what the government is doing in terms of policies.
While Ernst & Young’s report will have a segment on FM radio, Frames will not have a session dedicated to the medium. News and sports broadcasters are also absent from the seminar list.
The three days will have the three major themes of India Outbound, Making It Possible and Vision 2020. Future Perfect? respectively. One of the keynote speakers on 16 March is Walt Disney Intl’s president Andy Bird. Nielsen media research Intl’s chairman and CEO Robert Mc Cann will talk about the role research plays in today’s media world. The Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India’s (Trai) chairman Pradip Baijal will deliver a special address the same day.
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.
