News Broadcasting
Insat 4A placed in Intermediate Orbit; govt grants Isro Rs 4 bn for space programmes
BANGALORE: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) telecommunications satellite Insat-4A was placed in an orbit with a perigee (closest point to the earth) of 622 km and apogee (farthest point to earth) of 36,152 km.
Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka acquired the first signals at 4:32 am on 22 December and conducted initial phase operations on Insat 4A. The satellite was launched in the early hours of 22 December from Kourou, French Guyana.
Additionally, as per agency reports, Isro has been granted an additional amount of Rs 4 billion by the government in order to provide a boost to the country’s space programme.
The funding for Isro comes in the wake of the organisation preparing for the mission to the moon in the next five years and also plans to launch seven satellites under the new Insat 4 series programme in a span of three years.
On the other hand, the first critical orbit-raising manoeuvre of Insat 4A was conducted at 6:24 am on 23 December when the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) on board Insat N4A was fired for 85 minutes by commanding the satellite from MCF.
With this LAM firing, Insat 4A perigee has been raised to 13,733 km. The apogee is 36,008 km and the inclination of the orbit with respect to the equatorial plane has been reduced from 4 deg at the time of launch to 0.85 deg now. The orbital period is 15 hours 16 minutes.
All systems on board the satellite are functioning normally. The satellite will go out of MCF visibility at about 1:33 pm and come within its visibility at 7:17 am tomorrow. Further orbit raising maneuvers are planned in the next few days.
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.
