News Broadcasting
India-OZ likely to play 3-match ODI series in America in ’07
MUMBAI: After Abu Dhabi (DLF Cup) and Malaysia (tri-series), the next offshore cricket venue for the Indian cricket team will likely be in North America.
Indian cricket board vice-president Lalit Modi told Indiantelevision.com that an in-principle agreement had been reached for a three-match series between India and Australia to be held in North America in June 2007, just ahead of India’s tour of England in July.
Modi offered no other details except to say that he would be flying out to the US next week to finalise things.
If a report filed by Cricket World proves correct, the three matches will be held in Brooklyn, New York.
The report cites the Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, the first municipal airport in the US, as the venue for the three New York games, which has recently undergone a $38 million renovation to house a new sports and entertainment complex.
Zee Sports acquired the global media rights for all matches that India will play in non-ICC member countries with a huge $ 219.15 million bid. As part of the deal 25 matches will be played over a period of 5 years with an average of 5 matches per year. The global media rights comprise television, radio and Internet rights. The rights are for a period of five years from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2011.
The way the deal breaks up is that for the second year, Zee’s payout commitment to the BCCI is $ 6.03 million per match, which means that Zee Sports would have to generate a little over $ 18 million from the event all told, just to break even on it.
From the North American market at least, Zee would be expecting to extract a significant proportion of its investment from pay-per-view.
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.
