News Broadcasting
Madhavan Nair & team named CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 08
NEW DELHI: The third edition of CNN-IBN Indian of the Year award held in the capital witnessed G Madhavan Nair and team Chandrayaan being declared as the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2008.
G Madhavan Nair and Team Chandrayaan also bagged the award in the category of Public service sector.
Says Network 18 managing director Raghav Bahl, ” The year 2008 was an extraordinary year in terms of global economic crisis. The year taught everybody from politicians to policy makers to businessmen lessons on how to manage crisis. For businessmen 2008 was a year to stop running on bloated balance sheets and begin fresh management of accounts while for policy makers it was time to check the policies again in order to save the Indian economy from further effects of economic crisis as the time when the crisis had begun the country was relatively safe as compared to other economies.”
Meanwhile veteran Hindi cinema actor Dilip Kumar was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award and New Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit was conferred with Special Achievement award.
Assistant sub inspector late Tukaram Omble and the Mumbai Police who fought bravely at the time terror attack on 26 November, 2008 were bestowed with the award of Extraordinary Service to the Nation.
“CNN-IBN Indian of the Year award recognises the outstanding contributions of Indians in various categories. This initiative is an attempt to recognise the contribution of individuals who stood first amongst equals,” adds IBN18 Network editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai.
Earlier on 30 January, CNN-IBN had announced the category-wise winners which included Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in Politics, while Olympic Gold medalist-Abhinav Bindra was declared the winner in Sports category. The category of Business saw HDFC Bank MD Aditya Puri as the winner and Aamir Khan was announced as the winner in the Entertainment sector.
Finally, the Global Indian award went to AR Rahman.
The winners were chosen through a four-tier election process, where the IBN 18 editorial board drew the list of nominees; followed by voting of the electoral college and the citizens of India and the jury having ratified it. The process was audited by Ernst & Young.
News Broadcasting
Network18 trims FY26 losses as Q4 revenue touches Rs 1,955 crore, 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.
