News Broadcasting
DD News invites tender from creative agencies
MUMBAI: Barely a month old, National broadcaster’s news channel is all set to spruce its image.
Doordarshan has invited tenders from experienced creative agencies for creative and graphics support for DD news channel.
The pubcaster had issued a tender notice in the leading dailies today. According to the advertisment, the tender is a two bid basis proposal.
According to the details available on the website, the applicants would be required to provide support in designing and executing graphics for day to day news bulletins and current affairs programme and to conceptualise and develop montages and stings for regular news segments as well as for special occasions. The applicants are also expected to ve adept in creating story specific animated 3 D graphics for day to day operations, developing automated generation of stock ticker from the stock data being received through ISDN line and automated generation of animated graphics related to special programmes as elections developing interface with data from a third party.
The applicant should be able to execute, on day to day basis, graphics generation for delivery on to the production switcher, to develop application to facilitate updation of news ticker, breaking news, news updates from remote location in the news room and provide automated application for branding of graphics plates of all types.
According to the information available on the site, all the graphics will be bilingual in English and Hindi and the development of graphics and montages/ stings in regional languages should be quoted as an option.
Beside the pubcaster also requires the agency to develop music suiting the channel requirements for channel Id, montages and stings. The agency will also have to create weather graphics with automated generation taking data from IMD on a ISDN Line.
The job under the contract will also include providing support services for the program and news in form of research, production coordination.
One of the important clauses included in that the graphics and research teams will be exclusive to Doordarshan and the output is liable to be rejected in case of poor quality work with penalty imposed.
The applicants will have to submit a non refundable processing fee of Rs 10,000/- by demand draft in the name of “PBBCI, DG Doordarshan” in the envelope along with pre-qualification bid.
Last date for the receipt of tender is 30 January 2004 by 3.00 pm and the tender would be opened on 2 February 2004 in the presence of the bidder or an authorized representative of the same.
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.
