News Broadcasting
Live India ties up with Harmonic to improve connectivity and video quality
MUMBAI: Hindi news channel Live India has announced a partnership with Harmonic for an end-to-end contribution solution to improve video quality and optimise connectivity between the organisation’s regional news bureaus and main headquarters in Noida.
Harmonic’s Ellipse 3100 contribution encoders and ProView 7100 integrated receiver-decoders (IRDs) provide Live India with a high-density, scalable and bandwidth-efficient solution for fixed contribution applications, enabling the broadcaster to cost-effectively expand from two to five streaming news channels.
By more than doubling its channel lineup, Live India can now ensure that viewers across India are able to stay abreast of important breaking news and live events. The broadcaster chose Harmonic’s contribution solutions based on superior performance and support for a wide range of broadcast standards and formats, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DVB-S2, SD, HD, and MP4, that allow for increased flexibility, bandwidth savings and exceptional video quality. As Live India adds more channels in the future, Harmonic’s solutions will provide the broadcaster with easy scalability at an affordable price point.
“Over the years, Harmonic has gained a reputation around the world as a leading provider of contribution solutions based on the flexibility, scalability, and amazing video quality we bring to live news and sports applications,” said Harmonic Asia Pacific sales vice president Andrew Thornton. “Working with Live India on this project, we’re able to demonstrate to broadcasters everywhere how simple and affordable it is to expand your service offering using an end-to-end contribution solution from Harmonic.”
Harmonic’s Ellipse 3100 encoder features simultaneous IP and DVB-ASI outputs, making it the ideal solution for Live India’s fixed contribution needs. The versatile encoder supports all SD and HD MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC codecs at 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 chroma subsampling and 8 or 10 bits, guaranteeing pristine video quality. Live India is currently using the encoder for SD 4:2:2 with plans to migrate to HD 4:2:2 in the future. Fully firmware upgradeable, the Ellipse encoders provide Live India with a smooth and cost-effective migration path. The low-latency encoders help eliminate awkward pauses during handoffs between Live India’s field and studio talent for a seamless broadcast.
Live India is using the Ellipse encoders in combination with Harmonic’s ProView 7100 IRDs. The solution lowers the broadcaster’s capital and operational expenses. Harmonic’s ProView 7100 IRDs provide Live India with a 1RU, scalable, multiformat IRD, transcoder, and MPEG stream processor designed to increase workflow efficiencies and video quality for contribution applications. After Live India compresses live content using the Ellipse encoders, Harmonic’s ProView 7100 IRDs decompress the content at the same sampling and bitrate, resulting in nearly lossless video quality.
Currently, the network operates Live India and Mi Marathi which lately converted itself from being just an entertainment channel to include news and current affairs as well.
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.
