News Broadcasting
ESPN to make a television movie on Jack Johnson
MUMBAI: ESPN is planning to make a TV movie on the first black heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. On the other hand, filmmaker Ken Burns is also currently making his own documentary on Johnson titled Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.
ESPN executive vice president programing and production Mark Shapiro was quoted in a media report as saying, “Jack Johnson knocked loudly on the door of a deeply segregated society. With defiance, he mounted a force of courage still felt a century later. His story belongs not only to boxing but to our national heritage.” ESPN’s version is currently untitled and is expected to air sometime next year.
ESPN has signed producer Gerald Abrams to develop the movie. On the other hand, writer Paris Qualles (The Tuskegee Airmen and Blood Brother) has been signed on to pen Johnson’s biographical film and Abrams’ Cypress Point Prods. will produce the same.
Johnson won the championship title in 1908, which resulted in rising racial tensions in the United States throughout his seven-year title reign. According to a media report, Johnson fled the US in 1913 after being convicted of violating the Mann Act, which was designed to combat the transportation of prostitutes. He returned in 1920, after losing his title in Cuba, to serve his yearlong prison sentence. He died in a 1946 car crash at the age of 68.
Johnson’s biographical film will be the latest long-form original production from ESPN. The next ESPN movie to go into production will be a biographical film on Roger Bannister, the English runner who was the first person to break the four-minute mile.
The media report added that ESPN is also planning a made-for adaptation of David Maraniss’s book about Vince Lombardi titled When Pride Still Mattered.
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.
