News Broadcasting
Deloitte India associates with News Broadcasters Federation
Mumbai: News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) has partnered with Deloitte India to launch an integrated performance and rewards forum for the news broadcasting industry. This is the first-ever such association in the media domain.
The five-year partnership aims at building thought leadership in the human capital space. Apart from a total rewards report, and compensation and benchmarking studies, NBF’s members will have the opportunity to glean insights in the areas of productivity analysis, performance management, employee assessments, employee preference, and employee engagement. NBF members will also get access to Deloitte India Human Capital reports on Workforce and Increments Trends (WITS) and Campus Hiring Trends, amongst other industry-leading reports.
“Employees, especially journalists and related executives involved in the public service of taking news and information to the doorsteps of crores of Indians, are the backbone of the sector,” said NBF founding president Arnab Goswami. “This much-needed study will identify the social, economic, and financial impact of the ongoing pandemic and the pause in audience measurement data for the TV news genre. The partnership will enable the news broadcasting sector to prepare news TV channels to be future-ready, in terms of skills and benchmarking of employee benefits.”
“Employee costs are the single biggest expense for a news TV channel,” said NBF secretary-general R Jai Krishna. “The NBF-Deloitte India association aims to make the news TV sector more sustainable and successful, by preparing it to hire the best talent for a strong news media industry.”
“This is a unique association to strengthen the human capital landscape of the media industry,” said Deloitte India partner Anubhav Gupta. “Deloitte India’s human capital team is excited to work alongside NBF to provide thought leadership in multiple pertinent issues in this sector.”
“We look forward to associating with NBF and its member firms in the area of performance and rewards, and provide structured insights to enable data-backed decision-making throughout the year,” said Deloitte India director Neelesh Gupta. “Rewards and productivity are important areas for this industry, and we aim to fully support NBF members in this journey.”
India has about 909 satellite television channels, of which, news television channels (being the single-largest genre) constitute 43 percent. The first phase of the survey will cover more than 300 organisations and commenced from December 2021. The results are expected by Q4 2021.
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.
