News Broadcasting
Discovery boosts India centric content with more variety
MUMBAI: Infotainment channel Discovery’s aim this year is to forge a closer viewer connect through more local content. To achieve this it has increased the Discover India block from one hour to two hours.
This sees two different documentary specials airing back to back every Saturday from 8-10 pm with a repeat on Sunday from 9-11 am. A channel spokesperson points out that the aim is to bring in more diversity into the content. The channel, from September to December will showcase programmes on a variety of themes ranging from Aids to Kashmir to successful people in Mumbai.
Coinciding with the World Aids Day in December, it will air the special Highway in My Veins, which will tell the personal story of truck drivers who are affected by the menace of Aids. They spend a lot of time away from their families and so some of them seek refuge in drugs. 14 million truck drivers carry millions of tons of cargo from one part of India to another. They are the lifeline for many Indians but they have to deal with oppressive and dangerous conditions each day of their lives.
Non-literacy, lack of healthcare and difficult conditions contribute to their high-risk behaviour. Combined with the statistics of road accidents this has given them the stigma of being carriers of death rather than carriers of life.
An animal themed special that will air is called Cherub Of The Mist. In the Kangchenjunga range the Cherub uncurls its innocent face with white markings, cat like whiskers and long racoon like tail in the misty mountains of the Singalila National Park.
The show has footage from a Panda’s life. The aim is to unravel the mystery behind the secretive life of the little cherub and bring alive to the worldwide viewers the irresistible charms of the fire cat. The show marks the debut directorial venture by wildlife film-maker Naresh Bedi’s son. The special won the Vatavaran Awards for wildlife films in 2005.
A special that looks at Kashmir through the eyes of a young man is called Floating Lamp Of The Shadow Valley. The protagonist Arif is the youngest boatman on the Dal Lake. Each day he toils to earn the living in strife-torn Kashmir.At 10 he is the sole bread-winner for his family of five. Abandoned by their father, a runaway militant, now an unemployed drug addict, Arif and his family live under perennial shadow of tyranny. Through Arif this documentary examines the state of Kashmir and the awakening of hope.
Mumbaiites would be interested in Merchant Princes Of Bombay. The merchant princes that Discovery deals with are Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, who dominated the so-called China (read opium) trade; David Sassoon, who owned the most powerful trading house in the Orient; Premchand Roychand, whose home came to be labelled “a miniature stock exchange”; and another legendary Jamsetjee, Jamsetji Tata, who ushered the Industrial Revolution in India.
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.
