Cable TV
FremantleMedia to focus on fun with comedy & entertainment for MipTV
MUMBAI: FremantleMedia will be centre stage at MipTV 2006 as it presents a number of exciting new formats to buyers worldwide.
From Australia’s Working Dog comes a spontaneous and often hilarious new format, Thank God You’re Here. The improvisation sketch show will premiere on Australia’s Network Ten as an 8 x 1 hour primetime series on 5 April. Thank God You’re Here brings together a group of celebrities whose improvisation skills are tested to the max when they are thrown into an unknown situation which they must ad-lib their way through.
Each star walks, clueless, through a doorway and into a scene which might be an operating theatre, a Roman dungeon or a spaceship. Greeted by the catchphrase “Thank God Youre Here”, the celebrity must think on their feet and quickly figure out who they are and why they are there.
Filmed in front of a live studio audience, the show supports the adage that there’s nothing funnier than seeing a great mind in panic. The programme showcases a celebrity’s versatility and sharpness of mind as well as their ability to lie and deceive.
Straight From The Heart is this new format in which six ordinary people take to the stage to perform a song for an unsuspecting special someone in the audience. Having secretly rehearsed, it’s now their chance to belt out a ballad or raise the rafters with a rock song for their loved one. It could be friends singing in thanks for a unique friendship, a teenager apologising to his parents in song, or perhaps even a melodic proposal of marriage. The surprise element delivers some very real emotional reactions when the performers sing out their special message. There’s no record contract at stake, but the chance to send out a song Straight From The Heart, and be in the running to win a holiday, as awarded by the viewers.
Variety is back and bigger than ever with Showtime! This vibrant entertainment format is a perfect fit for worldwide primetime schedules, combining talent and tantrums, humour and humility, not to mention its fair share of divas and drama queens.
The programme features celebrities – news presenters, politicians, chefs as you’ve never seen them before. Each week four well-known personalities are transformed into ‘A list’ performers. With a manager and a budget behind them, they are dressed to impress and take to the stage to deliver their surprising, convincing and sometimes hilarious performances, while the viewers decide which team has made the grade.
FremantleMedia Worldwide Entertainment executive vice president production Rob Clark said he was looking forward to the prospect of sharing this line-up of programming with MipTV buyers this April. “We are proud to present a diverse and exciting slate, with everything from inventive entrepreneurs to improvisation. With such a great mix of different styles of variety entertainment to suit the range of needs presented by broadcasters around the world, we believe they’ll find what they re looking for at FremantleMedia,” he said.
MUMBAI: When margins wobble, liquidity talks and in Q3 FY25-26, cash did most of the talking. Den Networks Limited closed the December quarter with consolidated revenue of Rs.251 crore, marginally higher than the previous quarter but down 4 per cent year-on-year, even as profitability stayed resilient on the back of strong cash reserves and disciplined cost control.
Subscription income softened to Rs.98 crore, slipping 3 per cent sequentially and 14 per cent from last year, while placement and marketing income offered some cheer, rising 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter to Rs.148 crore. Total costs climbed faster than revenue, up 7 per cent QoQ to Rs.238 crore, driven largely by higher content costs and operating expenses. As a result, EBITDA dropped sharply to Rs.13 crore from Rs.19 crore in Q2 and Rs.28 crore a year ago, pulling margins down to 5 per cent.
Yet, the bottom line refused to blink. Profit after tax stood at Rs.40 crore, up 15 per cent sequentially and only marginally lower than last year’s Rs.42 crore. A healthy Rs.57 crore in other income helped cushion operating pressure, keeping profit before tax at Rs.48 crore, broadly stable quarter-on-quarter despite the tougher cost environment.
The real headline-grabber, however, sits on the balance sheet. The company remains debt-free, with cash and cash equivalents swelling to Rs.3,279 crore as of December 31, 2025. Net worth rose to Rs.3,748 crore, while online collections accounted for 97 per cent of total receipts, underscoring strong cash discipline across operations, including subsidiaries.
In short, while Q3 showed signs of operating strain, the financial backbone remains solid. With zero gross debt, steady profits and a formidable cash war chest, the company enters the next quarter with flexibility firmly on its side proving that in uncertain markets, balance sheet strength can be the best growth strategy.
