News Broadcasting
Fox News seeking better subscription value for its content
MUMBAI: News Corp will look for higher programming fees in the upcoming negotiations with pay TV contributors for its Fox News channel.
News Corp COO Chase Carey said that the conglomerate‘s content will be available to new clients only if it gets paid a “fair value”. He was speaking at the 38th Annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Wednesday.
Chase asserted that though both the channels are equally important, Fox News gets a very small percentage when compared to the fees that ESPN reaps.
“[Fox News] in the cable world is right there with ESPN, as important a channel as exists out there,” said Carey.
He averred that his team‘s motto will be: “If we don‘t get fair value, we shouldn‘t be selling it.”
Priced at $4 per subscriber per month, currently ESPN is one of the highest priced cable channels in the US. Fox News is priced at $1 per subscriber per month; however this was negotiated in 2006.
Although Chase declined to discuss about the terms of deals News Corp reached with Cablevision Systems and Time Warner Cable, however he did mention that “we were looking to what we thought was fair and we stuck to our guns. It takes two to make a deal… we achieved what we set out to achieve.”
He added that Fox “should be our most important channel. It should be our most profitable channel. That‘s what we‘re looking to achieve.”
Carey said that Fox believes it has rejuvenated its most important franchise ‘American Idol‘.
“It‘s a dominant franchise. We can take advantage of a new, fresh and different panel [of judges]” he said.
This time the panel won‘t include Simon Cowell, but Cowell will be bringing his new show, ‘X Factor‘, to Fox next season.
“We will have year-round franchises with Idol and ‘X Factor‘ in the fall with Simon,” he said.
According to Chase, News Corp‘s other cable channels also have opportunities to increase their subscription fees when compared with their competitors.
He said, “Our channels are pretty new compared to a lot of their peers,” and that “If we make every channel a leader in its category, we‘ve got a lot of room to grow.”
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.
