News Broadcasting
Interoperability wouldn’t support VAS, interactivity: Kaushik
NEW DELHI: With the arrival of the second pay DTH player in the market, a buzz word would be interoperability, meaning whether consumers can switch from one service to another effortlessly.
Though Indian government norms specify that all DTH systems need to be interoperable for consumer’s convenience, in reality it may not be so.
Vikram Kaushik, MD and CEO of Tata Sky, which launched its commercial service on 8 August, hinted that interoperability may be limited.
“Interoperability may not support interactive and value added services,” Kaushik admitted to a specific query on the issue today in Delhi.
Tata Sky consumer marketing head Vikram Mehra explained that for seamless interoperability of all services, including interactive services, DTH service providers must have similar software.
“In the absence of some (proprietary) software, value added services of a DTH platform may not get supported when a consumer changes the service provider. Yes, the TV channels would be available and that’s what government rules specify,” Mehra elaborated.
What does this mean?
If an existing Dish TV consumer, wants to switch over to Tata Sky service and hopes just a replacement of the smart card in the set-top box would give him all the features of Tata Sky, then he would have to think again.
Features like interactive news and sports and some value added services like movie-on-demand of Tata Sky would not be available by just inserting a Tata Sky smart card in a set-top box bought/rented from Dish TV.
For the records, Siebel will manage customer relationship management of Tata Sky, while Kenan will support the billing system, SAP will be responsible for enterprise resource planning and Sun Microsystems will provide technology infrastructure.
The boxes would be sourced from Thomson and Korean company Humax.
Both the companies will be manufacturing the set-top boxes in India, Kaushik said, which would help in keeping the price line under control.
At present country’s first pay platform, Dish TV, boasts of 1.25 million subscribers, while pubcaster Doordarshan’s subscription-free DD Direct+ has a reported consumer base of 3.5 million.
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.
