News Broadcasting
Global hockey body sets up expert panel to enhance profile, TV coverage
MUMBAI: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has set up a new advisory panel to assist it in the creation of new events and make decisions on hosting that will improve its television exposure worldwide.
The broad ambit of the panel, comprising industry experts, is to advise it on how to make the sport more commercially viable and expand television coverage of its events.
Ten Sports vice president programming Peter Hutton is a member of the panel that includes former Octagon CEO Karl Bistany and the English Cricket Board’s David Collier.
The first meeting will be at Lords on 14 May, where the group will make initial recommendations to the FIH. Ten Sports hold the television rights for FIH events in the Indian sub-continent and Middle East including the upcoming mens and womens hockey World Cups.
The panel will also include members of the FIH’s existing marketing and events committees of which Collier is already a member.
FIH marketing director Steve Morris, who will also feature on the panel, was quoted by Sportcal.com as saying that that the FIH had reviewed its events calendar over the past six months and concluded that its strategy could be improved.
Sportcal.com further reports that the FIH is in negotiations over the renewal of sponsorship deals with its four global partners – BDO International, Radobank, Sahara India, Samsung Electronics – which expire at the end of 2006.
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.
