News Broadcasting
DD, MTV to premiere MTV Music Summit on 30 Nov
MUMBAI: It was a fun evening alright, but it was with a good cause.
Around 35 thousand screaming youngsters joined in to watch MTV VJs, Bollywood actors and Indian music artistes to rock at the third MTV Music Summit for AIDS held on 15 November at MMRDA Grounds, Mumbai, to support life and stop the discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. The music summit will premiere into 80 million Indian homes at 9:30 pm on Doordarshan and 5:00 pm on MTV India on 30 November 2003.
The event boasted of attendance including likes of Dino Morea, Diya Mirza, Fardeen Khan, Gulshan Grover, Hrishita Bhatt, Isha Koppikar, Mandira Bedi, Meghna Naidu, Riya Sen, Ruby Bhatia, Zayed Khan, Abhijeet, Babul Supriyo, Baba Sehgal, DJ Aqeel, Hema Sardesai, Mika, Raghav, Suchitra K, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sukhbir, Shaswati, Shreya Ghosal, Shreekant, Vaishali Samant and Vedic Chant.
Brought in partnership with UNDP and was presented by Sony Hi-Fi, the communication partner for the music summit was TATA Indicom.
The summit was kicked off by Sahara, a group of 15-24 year olds living with HIV/AIDS, who performed their brand of music. The event was sponsored by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Next was performance by ‘Dancing Feat’, a Committed Communities Development Trust (CCDT) project for children at risk to HIV/AIDS. The event was funded by Family Health International (FHI) and the kids performed on a special dance sequence choreographed by Shiamak Davar.
Besides Haath Se Haath Milaa, produced by BBC India, shot a behind-the-scene episode of the MTV Music Summit for AIDS with humsafars (a groups of teens at risk of HIV/AIDS).
Said Alex Kuruvilla, Managing Director, MTV Networks India: “At MTV, we believe awareness and education are the most effective ‘vaccines’ for AIDS. With the third MTV Music Summit for AIDS, we continue to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, promote prevention and fight stigma. Providing a massive trust to this initiative, for the second year in a row, is the country’s terrestrial channel – Doordarshan, who will air the MTV Music Summit for AIDS into 80 million Indian homes. “
GO 92.5 FM, the radio partner, broadcast the summit live while Doordarshan is the television partner. The ground partners were Coca-Cola, Barista, Shoppers Stop and Rotaract Club, Bombay Hills South. Intercontinental The Grand, Mumbai was the hospitality partner.
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.
