News Broadcasting
DD News dons a new look from New Year
NEW DELHI: After giving a new look to its national and Bharati channels, Doordarshan has now given a new look to DD News, with a totally new logo and a major change in its tagline.
The new DD News tagline ‘Only News Complete News’ matches with its content and principles. The firm objective of the channel is to become ‘The national news channel’ and therefore its use of Hindi is in line with the national channel tagline ‘Desh Ka Apna Channel.’
White, red and shades of black/grey are the colours that will now be used in place of predominantly purple and yellow on the sets.
The logo will also be in red, white and slight grey. The box around the logo has been removed.
Montage graphics and music have undergone changes to suit the new colour scheme. Music too has been changed as required – mostly to make it more contemporary and upbeat.
Some elements have been kept in some graphics to represent continuity (for example the titles of generic bulletins, that is the News – in English – and Samachar – in Hindi – have been retained). Similarly, some chords of music have been retained.
Fonts have been made bolder and contrast introduced, both on bands and scroll, for greater readability.
The number of text bands firing simultaneously has been reduced to maximum three so as to remove clutter in the lower part of the screen. In most situations, there are likely to be only two bands.
A new, top band has been introduced which will be used occasionally as story title or other similar purposes.
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.
