News Broadcasting
Decision on Star News uplink extension likely Thursday
NEW DELHI: The government is determined to keep Star News on tenterhooks as it did not take a decision on its uplinking even today.
A senior government official told reporters today evening that the lengthy replies filed by Media Content and Communications Services India Pvt. Ltd. (MCCS), which has sought government nod for uplinking news content for Star News from India, are still being studied. “A decision (on the weekly extension being given till now) is likely to be taken tomorrow,” the official said.
According to Kaushal Dalal, a board member of MCCS who met the information and broadcasting ministry officials today, “The government is yet to take a final view on our case, but we are protected by the Mumbai high court ruling, which will ensure that the uplinking continues even after the deadline expires.”
MCCS had moved the courts against Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL), which uplinks content from India for Star News, from terminating the process arbitrarily. The court had observed that VSNL is free to come back to the court if it thinks that the government has directed Star News on something or had not given it the temporary uplink permission. VSNL cannot stop uplinking without informing the court even if the government decides to stop giving Star News the weekly extension it had been giving for the last four weeks.
However, government officials indicated that the replies of Star News are exhaustive and cover most of the areas which had been questioned by the government.
An executive of Star, which holds 26 per cent stake in MCCS, said in private that the case of Star News seems to be a long drawn affair.
Meanwhile, tomorrow in the Lower House of the Indian Parliament the government— read I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad — is likely to face a barrage of questions on conditional access system and also on Star News. Some opposition Members of Parliament, reportedly, have been doing their homework on CAS and Star News by getting feedback from a few journalists on the media beat.
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.
