News Broadcasting
Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce elects new governing body
BANGALORE: The election for the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) held on 25 September has elected distributor Gangaraju as president.
Sa Ra Govindu from the producers’ sector, Vasudevamurthy from the exhibitors sector, and K Janakiram from the distributors sector have been elected vice presidents.
The elected secretaries are B N Gangadhar from the producers’ sector, B S Nagaraj from the exhibitors sector and V H Suresh from the distributors sector.
This year, the post for president was reserved for the distributor sector. Electronic voting machines were used for the first time this year. Gangaraju has reportedly been elected by a margin of 214 votes among the approximately 1100 votes that were cast. He secured 650 votes against opponent Basant Kumar Patil’s 436 votes. V H Suresh is the only pro-Basant Kumar Patil syndicate member among the seven persons who were declared elected.
“This is a victory for a free mind and free business,” Odugouder, president of the Karnataka Film Exhibitors Federation (KFEF) from Hubli, told Indiantelevision.com. “We expect him to do good for the entertainment industry. The entertainment industry does not know any language or religion, it recognises only art. I’m sure that he will do a lot of good for both the Kannada as well as the non-Kannada film industry. Gangaraju’s election marks the defeat of vested interests that have recently been dogging the film industry in Karnataka,” he added.
Following the recent dramatic events that have taken place under the aegis of the Karnataka Film Producers Association (KFPA) lead by president Basant Kumar Patil, who was the other contender for the post of the president of the KFCC, many people associated with the film fraternity now expect some respite and maybe an end to the impasse between the Kannada film fraternity and the film industry in the rest of the country. The SIFCC coterie had announced embargoes against the Kannada Film Industry, fraternity and technicians, against Kannada Films.
KFEF has been the only body which put up a strong resistance to the the government-sponsored Pandey committee, which implemented a semi-official seven week moratorium on non-Kannada films from the date their first release in their respective states, and a limit of six prints to be screened in the entire state. This lead to a forced closure of almost seventy theaters in Bangalore city alone. The KFEF retaliated by refusing to exhibit Kannada films in the northern districts of the state. Only the intervention of actor turned politician Ambarish prevented the situation from turning ugly with the KFPA threatening a star studded morcha in Hubli and the Northern districts and that they would force theaters to screen Omkara, a Kannada film released last week.
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.
