News Broadcasting
GE’s NBC Universal eyeing studio major DreamWorks
MUMBAI: General Electric’s NBC Universal is in talks to buy out the privately held, live-action film studio DreamWorks, according to agency news reports.
Reports also stated that Universal was considering acquiring the studio founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
The board of General Electric (GE), which owns NBC Universal, is scheduled to meet but it’s unclear how much the company would be willing to pay for DreamWorks.
DreamWorks Animation, the animation studio that came into existence last year, is reportedly not a part of the discussions, but Universal would have the right to distribute future cartoon tiles from the company that created Shrek.
DreamWorks creations have been movies such as American Beauty and Gladiator but the studio has scaled back its plans over the years. In 1999, it abandoned plans to build a high-tech studio in Los Angeles, hived off its music division in 2004 and curtailed its TV production.
Its most recent film, The Island, which it distributed with Warner Bros., cost an estimated $122 million, according to industry tracker Box Office Mojo.
DreamWorks was founded in 1994 by three entertainment moghuls — director Steven Spielberg, recording industry executive David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had headed Walt Disney Co.’s studios and now serves as CEO of DreamWorks Animation. Its initial investors included Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
In 2004, the company dropped its music business, selling its record company to Universal for $100 million and its music publishing unit to New York-based venture capital firm Dimensional Associates for about $50 million, according to the international reports.
The share price of DreamWorks has fallen since then as the company had to warn investors of disappointing DVD sales for Shrek 2. Its market cap is about $2.3 billion today, and the company has dropped plans for a secondary sale of shares held by some of its initial investors.
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.
