News Broadcasting
DD expects to catch Rs 500 mn after payoffs
NEW DELHI: Indian pubcaster, Doordarshan, may not have been able to engineer a windfall from the recently-concluded Indo-Pakistan cricket series, considering the controversies surrounding the telecast rights, but it has managed to earn a decent amount from various sponsorship deals.
According to the pubcaster, initial calculations show that on a gross collection of about Rs 1.8 billion, it expects to make a net profit in the region of Rs 500 million.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com a day after the historic Indo-Pakistan home series came to an end, which fittingly was won by the latter in the presence of its President General Musharraf, Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma said jubilantly, “We expect to make approximately Rs 500 million after paying the Indian cricket board for rights and other deductions.”
Prasar Bharati, which manages DD, feels that given the constraints under which the rights were obtained and the inadequate time available for selling airtime, the present performance is “laudable.”
Sarma said other deductions would include 15 per cent ad agency commission (the agencies through which advertisers book airtime on DD) amounting to about Rs 300 million.
The total mop up by DD and the outflow to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may “fluctuate a bit,” Sarma said, keeping in mind the number of overs bowled; that is, the amount of actual play time. If the number of overs in a one-dayer or the number of days in a five-day Test were less, the inflow would be lesser as would be the outflow to the BCCI as the rights fee. This is part of an arrangement that DD has with the BCCI.
“We expect to pay the BCCI for the telecast rights in the region of Rs 900 million to Rs 1 billion,” Sarma said.
The Indian cricket team’s performance might not have been so heartening during the concluded home series, but DD has encouraged Sarma to say that the organisation intends to “go out and bid for cricket telecast rights, at least for home series, in the future as aggressively as private players.”
Just for record’s sake, controversies surrounding the telecast rights being offered by the BCCI, have seen DD emerging as the dark horse in being the favourite for telecasting the cricket matches. DD has beaten the likes of ESPN-Star Sports, Ten Sports, Sony Entertainment Television India and Zee Telefilms, which is mulling starting a sports channel in the near future.
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.
