News Broadcasting
Doordarshan sends team to Tokyo for robot contest
MUMBAI: The stage is set for the first Robocon Contest scheduled to be held at the Japanese capital Tokyo tomorrow. National broadcaster Doordarshan, the regional sponsor of the event, has sent a four member team for the Tokyo contest.
The Nirma Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad, which won the Indian leg of the Championship, held at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur last month, will represent India. They defeated IIT Kanpur and Vivekananda Institute of Technology, Mumbai to secure a berth on the Tokyo flight, according to an official press release.
ABU Robocon is an international educational event targeted at university, college and poly technic students in the Asia Pacific Region to popularize robotic games. Representative teams will compete with their peers in other countries with their hand made robots, reflecting exuberant creativity, outstanding technology and strong team work. The Robocon contest aims to create friendships, promote exchange of information among young people beyond national boundaries.
The contest orangised by the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) will be broadcast by participating broadcasters in the Asia Pacific region. 20 institutions from 19 countries are participating in the first ABU Robocon. The contest called Reach For Mount Fuji is a sort of basketball match played by the robots. There are 17 tubes on the play field and the robots go about putting the beach balls into them. A team is considered winner when the reach is completed, that is when five consecutive teams are occupied in a diagonal line, which must include the highest central summit the Mount Fuji. The duration of a game is three minutes.
Besides the Tokyo Award that will be given for the winning team, there are two runners up awards and special prizes for Best idea, Best artistic design, and Best technique. Doordarshan a member of the ABU in collaboration with IIT Kanpur has taken the first step in popularising robot games in India, the release says.
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.
