News Broadcasting
ESPN and Star Sports back on cable homes in the Philippines
If in India it’s cricket, in the Philippines it is basketball that gets the sports fan in a tizzy.
After just under six months off the air on the Sky Cable, Home Cable and PCC platforms, the ESPN and Star Sports channels came back on TV screens in the Philippines on April 17. This followed a new agreement between the Rupert Murdoch-promoted Star Group Limited and the three cable entities. The agreement also includes other Star Group channels – National Geographic, Star Movies and Star World, an official statement says.
The agreement was thrashed out ahead of the NBA Playoffs and Finals, which will be telecast on ESPN and Star Sports channels starting this month. With Sky Cable, Home Cable and PCC comprising 75 per cent of cable households in the Philippines, Filipino basketball fans can heave a huge sigh of relief.
Rik Dovey, managing director of ESPN STAR Sports said: “The Philippines is a key Asian sports TV market with a high demand for quality sports programming. We’re happy to have ESPN and Star Sports accessible again to cable subscribers in the Philippines who’ve consistently expressed their passion for a variety of sports and NBA in particular.”
The dispute reportedly goes back to 22 October, 2001, when Star TV pulled the plug on Sky Cable and Home Cable over unpaid fees the broadcaster said was in the millions of Filipino dollars.
Star Group regional director Charles Pollard had been quoted as saying then that supply was “indefinitely suspended” over the cable systems’ “non-payment of millions of (Filipino) dollars of fees” to Star and ESPN Star Sports.
And in shades akin to the situation obtaining in India, Sky Cable and Home Cable had charged in a joint statement that Star TV was “trying to bully us into buying a bundle of six channels on a ‘take all or nothing’ basis,” when the two only wanted Star Sports, Star Movies and ESPN.
The two cable providers, which joined operations in early 2001, said they could not afford the new contract terms worth 10 million Filipino dollars, up from 5.5 million Filipino dollars for five channels.
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.
