News Broadcasting
IBN 7 for look makeover to catch aspirational young viewers
NEW DELHI: IBN 7, the Hindi news channel from the Network 18 group is going for a total overhaul of its look to match the profile and taste of the younger crowd who sometimes do not watch Hindi news on aesthetic grounds.
The new-look channel will start from next week.
Ashutosh, the IBN 7 Managing Editor told indiantelevision.com “The difference is hard to explain without actually showing what we mean, but let’s say the difference would be a man from the small town and a man from Mumbai or Manhattan.”
Ashutosh says that the group has been feeling that Hindi news channels take on a rustic, rural face, which puts off many young people who have become aspirational.
He says that with the flush of money due to recent economic boom in the country colouring the outlook of the viewers, there is need to give the face of the channel a completely international look.
Alongside, technology would be key to the viewing experience as many virtual studios will be added for news programming.
“We shall just have one master studio with proper sets, the rest will be all be virtual and we can create any kind of set that the particular news requires,” Ashutosh said.
As an example he agreed that it would now be possible to report, say, on a plane hijack creating the virtual set of the plane and the cockpit and showing how the hijack had taken place, instead of just giving audio takes on these details.
Ashutosh said that large chunks of prime time will have the support of these virtual studios, and that too would add to the international viewing experience.
But the key issue is of the look, he stressed, explaining that the news content will be the same but with a changed face. He says that the entire colour scheme, among other visual effects willl be changed to give the international feel.
“Let’s say a man has shifted from Raipur to Rochester, and so does his look. The cloth is the same the man is the same but the look is international.”
It was a bit difficult to envisage, though, as the various bands that are seen on the screen of IBN 7 today will still be there.
At present there are four bands, one at top and three below, and those would stay.
Asked why BBC or CNN does not have these bands, and that primarily these are the cause for Indian Hindi news channels’ on-screen look being badly cluttered, he said that this is because those foreign channels do not have to face the intense competition one sees in India.
“Those bands are constant feed of information useful to the viewers, so that even if the audio is out, one can feed on information, whether regarding the story on news, or other ticker news and so forth,” he explained.
His defence is that the tremendous competition to grab eyeballs is what has led Indian channels to go for these techniques, and said: “These will stay, but still, you will realise that what you are seeing today on our channel is completely different from what is coming up.”
Ashutosh admitted that the virtual studios have come at a huge price, but this reinventing of the channel was necessary.
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.
