News Broadcasting
DD, NDTV, CBS win Commonwealth Bcast awards
NEW DELHI: Indian pubcaster Doordarshan and the Prannoy Roy-promoted NDTV, amongst others, bagged the Commonwealth Broadcasting Awards 2006, which were announced today here.
Other winners included the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The awards, sponsored by World Bank, UNICEF, Amnesty International and Rolls Royce, were announced at a glittering function this evening as part of the on-going 26th Commonwealth Broadcasting Associations general conference.
Doordarshan bagged the CBA-World Bank Award for Programmes on Development Issues for From Fallows to Food Baskets, produced by Doordarshans Hyderabad centre.
The programme is a marvelous depiction of how villagers in India are producing more at low cost, by involving the community, particularly, women. The programme was made in collaboration with Community Media Trust, Pastapur, Andhra Pradesh.
Doordarshan has also won the CBA-UNICEF Award for Childrens Programme for the television drama Joymoti, which is the story of a girl whose father works as a labourer in a tea garden and how she takes up the challenge of education.
The programme was made by Doordarshans Silchar centre.
The other awards given away today are as follows:
* CBA-Rolls Royce Award for Exceptional News Feature went to Canadian Broadcasting Corporations programme A War in Words: An Iraqi Family Diary.
* CBA-Amnesty International Award for Human Rights Programme went to Australian Broadcasting Corporations programme A Knifes Edge.
* CBA-IBC Award for Innovative Engineering went to NDTV.
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.
