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Entertainment gurus converge at gaming seminar in US
MUMBAI: What does the future hold in the US for interactive entertainment?.That is the question that The Game Developers Conference
(GDC) will seek to answer.
The event takes place from 7-11 March 2005 in San Francisco.
The seminar aims at bringing to life the 2005 theme Future Vision . There will be series of talks dedicated to the road ahead for interactive entertainment. The vision track will include progressive leaders in the fields of music, video games, design and technology.
GDC director Jamil Moledina says, “The vision track is designed to provoke innovation among developers and set the stage for the future of interactive entertainment. In a business environment where finishing the current project is the foremost priority, our goal is to provide an environment that fosters the innate creativity of game developers, and empowers each of them to establish their own long-term vision of the next decade of games.”
The speakers include J Allard who is a founding member of the Xbox platform project. He is recognised as e of the most promising young leaders of the entertainment industry. In 1993 he was named in Hollywood Reporter’s Top 35 Entertainment Execs under 35. Allard’s session is entitled The Future of Games: Unlocking the Opportunity.
Another speaker is Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. In his session The Heart of a Gamer he will assess where the game business stands today as well as predicting how it will develop over the next several years.
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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.
