News Broadcasting
Jeeva Asianet Awards on 7 March in Cochin
MUMBAI: It’s awards time yet again and this time it comes from down South. In its fifth year now, the Jeeva Asianet Awards 2004 are scheduled to take place on 7 March in Cochin.
One of Kerela’s biggest ever film awards, the Asianet Awards honour the best of Malayalam cinema where winners are decided entirely by popular polls. The ads for the same have started appearing in major dailies like The Times of India in the northern parts of the country and The Hindu and The Indian Express in the South.
Says Asianet CEO Mohan Nair, “The Jeeva Asianet awards are the only awards that offer the highest amount of prize money to the winners. There are around 45 Malyalam movies in the competition for the Best Movie award. There is also a Lifetime Achievement award which will be awarded to someone who has been held in high esteem in the industry.”
The Best Film will get a prize of Rs 1,25,000; Best Director – Rs 75,000; Best Actor/Actress – Rs 50,000 each and winners of all other categories will get a cash prize of Rs 25,000 along with citations and trophies.
Adds Nair, “We have signed up with the Malayalam Cine Artists Association (AMMA) in Kerela and they will be providing us with artists for the awards. Popular Malayam artists will be performing at the awards this year.”
The winners of the awards in the various categories will be selected by an independent jury based on the nominations received from the Asianet viewers and general public. The nomination forms which have appeared in newspapers should be filled and sent to the Asianet office before 9 February. “Special efforts have been made by the committee so that there are no chances of the awards being rigged,” says Nair.
The awards will be aired on Asianet a week after they take place. Says Nair, “The Asianet awards have always garnered good TRP ratings for us for the five years and we expect the same this time round too.”
For the past few years, the Asianet Awards have been associated with brands like Johnson & Johnson and Lux. This time round it has been associated with Jeeva – The complete ayurvedic soap. Brands like Anchor White toothpaste and Anchor Roma switches are also associated with the awards this year.
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.
