News Broadcasting
DD appoints marketing agency for DTH service
NEW DELHI: Pubcaster Doordarshan, proposing to launch its free KU-band direct-to-home television service on 15 August, expects to seed the market with over 10,000 boxes before the launch date. Some boxes would be sold, while a bulk would be distributed free. It has also appointed a marketing agency towards the purpose.
Pointing out that the launch of DD Direct — as the DTH service has been christened — would be a “soft” one, bereft of hype associated with such initiatives in the broadcast industry, Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma told indiantelevision.com today, “We expect to have distributed 10,000 boxes — needed to access the DTH service — by mid-August and the vendor for the boxes has intimated us that the effort would be to sell additional boxes.”
According to Sarma, DD has also appointed a marketing agency to have the set-top boxes for the DTH service to be sold through outlets in various cities. “If the promise of the vendor comes through, then about 20,000 boxes would be sold over the period.” The price of the boxes has been kept nominal, Sarma added.
The launch of the DD Direct, to be beamed through NSS6 satellite, had been a matter of speculation for sometime in the government and industry circles for various reasons. One being whether the present Congress-led government would finally go ahead with the launch of the DTH service.
Though Prasar Bharati, which manages DD and sibling All-India Radio, had made an offer to private sector TV channels to come on board the DTH platform, the response had been lukewarm. Most of the Hindi-language entertainment channels have preferred to keep away. But on the other hand, some popular South Indian language channels, including two from the Sun TV family, have agreed to be part of DD Direct, which also has Star’s free-to-
air Star Utsav.
Sarma said that DD Direct would be launched with 17 channels, including private channels, but admitted that no Sony channels are part of the bouquet.
DD had decided last year to launch a KU-band DTH service as part of its expansion. A feasibility study undertaken indicated that it would be a costlier affair to expand terrestrially and so the DTH mode was opted for especially keeping in mind border areas and north-eastern parts of the country where both terrestrial and cable TV signals are either fuzzy or do not exist at all.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in October last okayed pubcaster Doordarshan’s forays into DTH television service and gave a nod to government assistance amounting to Rs 1,650 million in the first phase.
The assistance was to be disbursed over a period of three years starting from the current financial year. The one-time cost of installation of hardware would be approximately Rs 6,000, which is also expected to come down to Rs 3,000.
The CCEA had also approved, in principle, a proposal that after three years, DD can “go pay” with its DTH service to generate additional revenue for keeping up the service. By “going pay” means that subscribers would have to pay a monthly subscription for the service as they would pay for any other DTH service in the country.
DD initially plans to distribute 10,000 TV sets and dish antennas free-of-cost to public institutes like village panchayats, some educational institutions and NGOs.
At the moment, there is only one DTH service in India, Dish TV, which is promoted by Subhash Chandra’s companies. The Tata-Star combine are awaiting a clearance from the information and broadcasting ministry for its proposed DTH service.
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.
