News Broadcasting
HBO announces Diwali special programmes
MUMBAI: Come October and HBO promises a treat for its viewers with non-stop Blockbusters, dazzling stars, exciting action, fun romantic comedies all through the month.
Every Saturday night at 9 pm, viewers can tune in to watch films like Without a Paddle, Stealth, The Interpreter and Cellular. Two friends try to fulfill their dead friend’s dream in Without a Paddle on 7 October. Humanity must save itself from a computer in Stealth premiering on 14 October. The Interpreter starring Academy Award winners Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn will be shown on 21 October0. And Cellular on October 28.
Every Saturday night after the 9 pm movie and every Sunday night after the 8 pm movie, HBO will show hits like- Hitch, Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King, Spiderman 2, Troy, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous,The Last Samurai, Collateral, Hellboya and Resident Evil.
And every weekday from Monday to Friday, Diwali Fun Fare at 11:30 am will treat its viewers to Julia Roberts film Mona Lisa Smile. The ultimate bachelor will face the ultimate challenge in 50 First Dates. And a 13 year old girl who plays a game on her birthday and wakes up the next day as a 30 year old woman in 13 going on 30. Besides Mean Girls, A Cinderella Story, Peter Pan, and many more films will be shown as part of Diwali Fun Fare.
Every Thursday, ‘Diwali Laughs night’ after the 9 pm movie will make the viewers laugh, with comedies like Connie and Carla, The Guru, The Nutty Professor and Almost Heroes.
Drawing inspiration from the spirit of Diwali, HBO presents Diwali Treat: The Good Always Wins every Monday night at 9 pm. Catch the battle upfront in Boa Vs Python, Dinocroc, Gargoyles’s Revenge, Pterodactyl and Anaconda. The heroes, the heroines, the legends, the art- its Kung Fu invasion in Diwali Kung Fu every Tuesday night right after your 9 pm movie with adrenaline pumping movies like The New Legend of Shaolin, The Bride with White Hair, Wonder Course, American Shaolin and The King of Kingboxers.
HBO’s multi-award winning Original series Deadwood returns with a brand new addictive second season premiering 18 October after the 9 pm movie and thereafter every Wednesday night after the 9 pm movie. Set in an ungoverned stretch of South Dakota soon after the 1876 Custer massacre, Deadwood concerns a lawless, evolving town attracting fortune-seekers, drifters, tyrants, and burned-out adventurers searching for a card game and a place to die.
Gus Van Sant’s gripping drama Elephant in the HBO Original Movie of the Month on October 3 at 9 pm.
The movie explores the contemporary reality of high schools in America, a reality that has been transformed in recent years by school shootings like the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.
Prime time viewing on HBO includes HBO Blockbuster Of The Month, a special television event that premieres a mega blockbuster movie every month, HBO Saturday Nights, which premieres a new box office hit each week throughout the year; HBO Sunday Super Hits, which showcases the blockbuster hits, star-studded hits, favourite genre hits, Asian hits, highly acclaimed hits and so much more. In addition, HBO features at least 3 – 4 new movie showcases every month to offer viewers an interesting mix of Hollywood movies based on exciting themes.
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.
