News Broadcasting
DD must forge own identity, exhorts Sarma at DD Awards night
MUMBAI: National broadcaster Doordarshan was out in full strength on Saturday at the Goregeon Sports Club in Mumbai to honour and award its own.
Information and Broadcast minister RS Prasad, the chief guest for the evening, addressed the audience and spoke about the advantages and the reach of DD. Also present were Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chagan Bhujbal and Prasar Bharati chairman MV Kamath. Attended by the whos who of the television industry, the DD Awards were hosted by actors Sachin Pilgaonkar and Gauri Karnik (of Sur fame).
There were some glittering and foot stamping performances by bhangra King Gurudas Mann, singers Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan and KK. Prasar Bharati chief executive KS Sarma gave away the special award for leading financial saving to HP Pritampura. The administrative awards for the NE zone went to DK Sharma and from the east zone it went to Ratan Kanti Dey from DDK Kolkata.
Sarma later addressed the audience and said, “No one is weak or powerful in the Prasar Bharti team. We have to keep going and reach greater heights.” He also congratulated the winners and thanked Bhujbal for giving the slogan Doordarshan Desh Ki Dhadkan for the pubcaster. He said, ‘DD aims to communicate with the people. At present we are lagging far behind. We hope to improve and the organization is looking forward to it. All television channels are facing stiff competition. DD has to keep up the national name and not ape others. We have to keep our own identity in the rat race,” he stressed.
Noted film maker Pahlaj Nihalani gave away the awards for the best promo award to Suchandra Chowdhary (Kolkata). The award for the best sound was bagged by Sanjay Rane (Mumbai). The best editing awards went to Pawan Mahinya and Virendra (Jalandhar).
Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPAA) president Smita Thackeray awarded the best graphics award to Bharat Bhusan. The best screenplay award went to Sharan Birajdar. Veteran actor Parikshit Sahani gave the award for the best Art direction to Goraknath Kadu. The best cinematography award was jointly shared by Raj Shekhar and Uday Nayak.
Dainik Bhaskar Group chairman Girish Agarwal handed the best wildlife and environment programme award to Anand Sujal (Jaipur). The best science and technology programme award was bagged by Ajay Sharma (Jaipur). TAM India CEO L V Krishnan gave away the award for the best agricultural programme to Rajshekharan.
Renowned gazal singer Talat Aziz awarded the best sports programme award to BS Bickey (Jalandhar). The live event OB award was jointly bagged by Bickey and Amarjeet. The best award for the animation programme was yet again jointly shared by the Kamal Gulati – Bhagwan Rao duo and Ram Awtaar Sharma. Singer Ila Arun awarded Kalpana Parida with the best childrens programme. The best youth programme of the year was jointly shared by KK Bohra (Jaipur) and MS Gunsheelan (Bangalore).
Veteran actor Tabassum who started her career with Doordarshan way back in 1972 when the pubcaster opened its Mumbai office gave away the next set of awards. She said, “I am proud of my association with Doordarshan. My talk show Phool Khile Hai Gulshan Gulshan was on air for almost 21 years. Its probably the longest any show has run on any channel ever.” Tabassum gave the best womens programme award to Champa Panjikar (Goa) and the best documentary award to E Sethumadhavan (Thiruvanthapuram) and Tapas Mitra (Port Blair). Yesteryears comedian Jagdeep handed the best music programme to Surendra Sharma (Delhi). The best innovative programme went to Prabhitangru Das (Agartala). TB Singh (Imphal) and Padmavathi bagged the best dance programme award.
SAB TVs vice chairman and managing director Markand Adhikari gave the best docudrama award to TM Sarangi and the best soap opera to Pankaj Chauchna (Ahmedabad) for her soap Ek Dal Na Pankhi. The award for the best film based programme was bagged by Sharad Dutt (Delhi) for the programme Living Legend Dev Anand. Adhikari said, “DD reaches over eight crore (80 million) homes in the country. According to TAM data the recently launched DD News channel has grabbed higher TRPs than any other satellite news channel. One of our serial which is being aired on DD is going to finish 1,500 episodes soon. With this it will enter the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest running serial. It could have been only possible on DD.”
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.
