News Broadcasting
Hungama TV to launch 26 September
MUMBAI: Hungama TV, the 24-hour kids’ channel from the UTV stable, will start beaming into Indian homes from 10 am on Sunday, 26 September.
However, with just nine days to go for the channel to start beaming, it is yet to get ministry clearance for uplinking. Talking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com, Hungama TV COO Purnendu Bose expresses confidence that the clearance would come through within the time period. Even in the event of that not happening, a contingency plan is in place wherein the channel would be temporarily uplinked from Singapore, Bose says.
Hungama TV, to be distributed by Star, will be priced at Rs. 6 per subscriber per month. The channel’s multi-media marketing and promotional campaigns launched today.
Hungama TV has lined up content from around 12 productions houses including Garima, Balaji Telefilms, BAG Films and Creative Eye, among others.
Regarding the methods to be used to involve the 20 TV captains the channel has selected to give inputs, Bose said the communication would be via latest communication technologies. Hungama is also launching its website on the day of its launch.
The kids’ channel will be targeting four to 14-year-olds instead of the four to 18 TG that had earlier been decided upon. Bose adds that 15-18 year-olds is being avoided for the moment to avoid complications, as the research the channel has done thus far showed that the age group thinks differently when compared to the four to 14 group.
Talking about programming content, Bose said 95 per cent of the matter was ready and the rest just needed a finishing touch. The channel will have eight hours per day of original content.
Bose feels that more channels in the children’s programming space would only help to expand a hitherto untapped market.
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.
