News Broadcasting
India TV breaks news with rare Dawood visuals
NEW DELHI: India TV, a Hindi language news channel, today announced the launch of Breaking News, a news show, by drumming up rare visuals of a Dubai-based don and his links with the Indian entertainment industry.
The lead story in the inaugural show on Wednesday aired first-ever video visuals of Dawood Ibrahim and his associates. Dawood is not only on India’s most -wanted list, but has been dubbed a global terrorist by the USA.
However, no Indian or US agencies have been able to procure Dawood’s moving images and most Indian news channels use old photographs of Dawood, mostly snapped years back in Sharjah during cricket matches played there.
The sensational video was provided to India TV by one of its viewers and includes Dawood’s pictures with a leading Hindi film industry actor.
Breaking News, claimed by India TV to be the “biggest” such show, is about unveiling lesser known facts relating to subjects and issues of national and social importance.
Rajat Sharma and Sudhir Choudhary, two well-known faces of Indian TV industry, present the new show in a format that marries interactivity with live generation of news. The three-hour show from 9.00 pm to midnight airs from Monday to Friday, according to an official statement from India TV.
The statement quoted Rajat Sharma, editor-in-chief and chairman of India TV, as saying, “Astonishing as it is to see never-before pictures of Dawood, the video is a never-before opportunity to highlight Bollywood’s unholy nexus with the Dubai underworld. The D-Company video forces us to think deeper about an industry, which is the source of so much pleasure to us and our loved ones. It brings back on the national agenda, the urgent need to cleanse the funding that fuels one of the few world-class industries that we can boast of.
“Our intent has been to portray evidence never presented before, and not to cast aspersions on the individuals involved or their affiliates. People depicted as part of the (television) presentation are incidental. There is always more to life than what is visible to the eye, on both the good and the bad side and India TV understand this equation very well.”
Sharma added that by engaging experts from within the Indian film industry and opinion makers on the show, the thrust is to take the “debate to a higher level, capturing a wider view on underlying issues.”
Interestingly,India TV tied up with DTH service provider Dish TV, 20 per cent owned by Zee Telefilms, to drum up public support by airing the news channel between 9 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday at various places via Dish’s mobile vans. Dish TV lent about six mobile vans to India TV on request.
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.
