News Broadcasting
Harris comes out with solutions for mobile TV
MUMBAI: Harris’ broadcast communications division will showacse solutions for the emerging mobile TV market at IBC2006. The event takes place from 7-12 September in Amsterdam.
It is participating in early stage trials across Europe and Australia. It is also developing transmitters for Modeo and Qualcomm MediaFLO USA. applications (both scheduled to launch by 2007). At IBC2006, Harris will demonstrate mobile TV broadcasts for the leading standards (DVB-H, FLO and T-DMB) featuring Harris transmitters and infrastructure/networking products, as well as third-party receiving equipment.
Harris says that a broad range of Harris content delivery solutions for mobile TV will be on display, including platforms for DVB-H, FLO and T-DMB applications. Each standard offers viable benefits for operators. IBC it says is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate these benefits and how it is equipped to offer the most complete, technically sound transmission and infrastructure solutions in the broadcast industry.
Mobile TV transmission solutions from Harris have been used to develop and prove the effectiveness of the DVB-H, FLO and T-DMB standards for mobile broadcast television. The company will highlight its complete mobile TV product range through four separate demonstrations in the Mobile Zone. A Harris NetVX networking system will deliver content to the Mobile Zone from the main Harris stand in some demonstrations.
DVB-H over UHF
The Harris DVB-H UHF solutions work in both high- and low-power applications. The higher-power Atlas liquid-cooled transmitter (offered in versions from 1.25 to 9 kW) is featured in the main Harris booth. In the Mobile Zone, Harris is delivering DVB-H content to a handset via the Atlas DTV-660 air-cooled UHF transmitter, which is offered in power levels up to 1.5 kW.
DVB-H over L-Band
The Harris Cool Play Mobile TV transmitter offers a ‘convection-cooled’ architecture for outdoor installations. The 1670 MHz version of the transmitter will transmit video to a handset developed for Modeo, a U.S. DVB-H operator. The Cool Play 1670 transmitter is available at power levels up to 400 watts in L-Band.
FLO over UHF
The entire of range of Harris ATSC transmitters are now available for FLO applications, based on the new Harris Apex FLO exciter that Harris is featuring in the Mobile Zone. Harris will receive live transmissions of a multichannel FLO service on a handset. This marks the first Harris display in Europe of FLO transmission products.
T-DMB over DAB
Harris has a full line of VHF and L-Band DAB transmitters that can be used to deliver mobile TV over DAB. In the Mobile Zone, Harris will demonstrate the receipt of digital radio channels and multichannel TV on a T-DMB handset from a Harris DAB-660 transmitter. Harris will demonstrate how the standard’s highly efficient audio encoding allows for transmission of multiple digital radio and video channels using the same transmitter.
The company will display its strengths in terrestrial TV transmission. The Harris Atlas transmitter family will be prominently displayed in the delivery section of the Harris stand. As a global UHF transmitter platform, the Atlas liquid-cooled transmitter family supports analog, digital and mobile television standards. Visitors can see an active demonstration of the Atlas DVB-T/DVB-H platform delivering HDTV and H.264 mobile TV content. A widescreen display will receive and broadcast the HDTV content, with the H.264 mobile content received on a handheld device.
The terrestrial TV area also will include a demonstration of the Harris/Neural Audio MultiMerge for DTV. MultiMerge uses intelligent detection to blend any audio (mono, stereo, matrix encoded stereo (L/R), and 5.1 discrete content) into a seamless, uninterrupted 5.1 surround sound stream.
Harris began developing terrestrial transmission platforms for mobile TV in 2004 after participating in early demonstrations and the development of the DVB-H standard. The company’s recent acquisition of Leitch Technology adds a range of servers, routers, switchers and processing equipment to Harris® NetVX video encoding and distribution systems, providing the infrastructure for bringing content into the mobile TV headend. Meanwhile, equipment from the Harris Software Systems business unit adds a complement of broadband software and distribution equipment for network management, traffic scheduling, digital asset management and ad insertion, among other applications.
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.
