News Broadcasting
FremantleMedia hires Petter Testmann-Koch for Norway office
MUMBAI: It was very recently that FremantleMedia International announced few huge deals in the Asian region. Now, the company that is one of the largest creators, producers and distributors of television brands in the world, is expanding its operations in the Norway region. The company announced the opening of a production operation in Oslo Norway, and has also appointment Petter Testmann-Koch, a leading Norwegian producer as FremantleMedia Norge Managing Director.
Testmann-Koch will set up the office and build the production team. He will be responsible for the day to day management of the operation and driving the strategic vision of the business. He will focus on developing quality content for the Norwegian market across all platforms, selling FremantleMedia formats in Norway and working closely with FremantleMedia’s International production, licensing and sales operations.
Testmann-Koch will report to Daniela Matei, CEO Nordics, Eastern Europe and Balkans (NOREEBA), and sit on the NOREEBA senior management team.
Prior to joining FremantleMedia, Testmann-Koch was working with Nordisk Film TV as CCO & Executive Producer where he had overall creative responsibility for development and production as well as co-managing format acquisitions and sales.
He has been credited for producing shows like 71 Degrees North, Home of the Year, Celebrity Cook Off and The Voice of Norway. Prior to this, he worked as a producer/director at Dinamo Story (Eyeworks Dinamo) for five years producing large scale event shows such as Spellemann (Norwegian Grammy), Amanda (Norwegian Oscar), Gullruten (Norwegian Emmy), and Eurovision Song Contest Countdown. Testmann-Koch began his career as a freelance broadcast journalist and went on to work for several production companies as a producer/director including Nordisk Film, Global TV Production Oslo and Allegro Film, before founding his own production company, Potato.
Testmann-Koch takes up his post in Spring 2014.
FremantleMedia also recently announced the appointment of Anne Brostrom as Managing Director, Blu, FremantleMedia’s Danish production arm. The company also acquired a majority stake (51 per cent) in Miso Film, a leading Danish scripted production company.
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.
