News Broadcasting
DD News does the big poach on Aaj Tak
NEW DELHI: India’s pubcaster Doordarshan is poaching and doing so with gay abandon.
As part of phase one of expansion and restructuring of its recently launched news channel, DD News, around eight more people from the “subse tez” news channel Aaj Tak have been grabbed by DD, apart from some more who have worked in other private television channels.
“More people are joining DD News and some of them are from Aaj Tak also,” Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma said today, adding that a request has been made to the government to send on deputation some Indian Information Service (IIS) officers to strengthen the functioning of DD News.
The people from private channels, including Aaj Tak, who are slated to join DD News later this month have been drawn from all sections, including copywriters and reporters-cum-anchors. But most of them, except one lady who had worked with NDTV at one time, are coming at a salary package ranging between Rs 22,000 and Rs 30,000, Sarma said.
The onslaught on Aaj Tak, seemingly the nursery for TV journalists, began anew recently when around Diwali time last year, DD snapped up its political editor Deepak Chaurasia as a consulting editor to DD News. Soon after some people followed Chaurasia and now more are leaving the leader, especially at a time when the company managing Aaj Tak and Headlines Today is to debut on the stock markets this month. There are even rumours of TV Today Network’s news director Uday Shankar leaving for Star News.
According to Sarma, DD News, which has been performing well amongst the news channels, would undergo some restructuring on the lines of private channels.
For starters, to bring in greater sense of professionalism, input, output and assignment desks would be created. This would also be followed up by bringing in some more style as the former NDTV person, hired at a monthly remuneration of Rs 70,000, would also function as a style consultant.
Sarma also said that the hunt for a permanent head for DD News is currently on. “I have been meeting up with people for this post and soon it would be filled up,” he added.
At the moment, Sanjiv Dutta, functions as the additional director general of news after his predecessor Swagat Ghosh was removed from DD News and banished to a low-profile I&B ministry organization recently.
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.
