News Broadcasting
Hal Walker of CBS News passes away
MUMBAI: Hal Walker, one of the first African American journalists on national television in the 1960s, passed away at his home at the age of 70. He had been suffering from prostate cancer.
Walker, an award-winning journalist, was the first African American correspondent for CBS News in 1968. At CBS, Walker’s repertoire covered foreign as well as domestic stories. He was promoted to correspondent in the network’s Washington bureau in September 1969.
His coverage of race relations during his stint with CBS’ Washington affiliate WTOP-TV (now known as WUSA) was among his award winning works. Walker also won a local Emmy and the Capitol Press Club’s ‘Journalist of the Year’ award for anchoring a one-hour WTOP Special Report – ‘A Dialogue with Whitey’, which was about the Washington riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968.
Born in South Carolina, brought up in New York City, Walker studied English and theater at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He pursued other careers, including acting and public service, before taking a job at WTOP in 1963.
He took an assignment for CBS in Bonn in 1977, and left the network three years later to become bureau chief for ABC News in Bonn. His last posting before retiring in 1995 was with ABC News in the network’s London bureau.
Walker had retired in 1995 after an illustrious career including a 12-year stint with CBS News and 15 years with ABC.
Walker is survived by his wife, Diane Walker, his three children, Alison Schlatter, Sarah Walker, and Harold Stephen Walker and four grandchildren.
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.
