News Broadcasting
ETV net widens with launch of 6 new channels Sunday
Confirming the report on indiantelevision.com last month (24 December 2001 to be exact), the Ramoji Rao owned Eenadu Television Network announced today that it was all systems go for the launch of its six new regional language channels on Sunday, 27 January.
The four major Hindi-speaking states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan will each have a separate channel along with two channels servicing Orissa in the east and Gujarat in the west. The launch of the six channels will see ETV emerge as the “largest television network in the country cutting across linguistic boundaries,” an official release states. With the launch of the six channels, ETV Network will have a total of 11 regional channels including Telugu, Kannada, Bangla, Marathi and Urdu.
Programmingwise, the ETV Network’s is claiming a unique feature – Annadata, a programme wholly devoted to the farming community. Annadata will provide exclusive fare for each state it caters to and will function as a daily guide for farmers in the respective regions it covers.
All the channels are digital, free-to-air and transmitted from the earth station located at Ramoji Film City in in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and beaming off the Insat 2E satellite.
Other regional players include the six Zee Alpha channels, the Tara bouquet of four channels, RITVs two channels and ETCs Punjabi channel. There is of course the Sahara Group’s plans to launch a national news channel and 37 independent city-based regional news stations covering Uttar Pradesh & Uttranchal, Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Bihar & Jharkhand, National Capital Region (NCR) and Mumbai. But these are not entertainment channels but news and current affairs-based.
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.
