News Broadcasting
Maharashtra political dance pips English News ratings 24 per cent in week 48
BANGALORE: The political dance, the shenanigans by various political parties for premiership in Maharashtra politics provided News channels with more eyeballs in week 48 of 2019 (Saturday, 23 November 2019 to Friday, 29 November 2019, week or period under review) as compared to the previous week according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data.
BARC data for the Top 5 English News channels for the period under review saw the combined ratings of the top 5 channels from the genre spike up to 2.211 million weekly impressions from 1.780 million weekly impressions during the previous week.
While the channels in the lists for both weeks were the same, there was some tweaking in the ranks – Public broadcaster Doordarshan’s English News channel slipped to fifth rank in week 48 from third rank in week 47 of 2019. The India Today group’s India Today Television climbed up a place from fourth rank to replace DD India, while Network18’s CNN News 18 also climbed up a place to fourth rank in week 48 of 2019.
As mentioned by us earlier, the combined ratings of the Top 5 English News channels had breached a new nadir during week 47 of 2019 to reach an all-time low since BARC recommenced publication of viewership data in the public domain in week 13 of 2019. For the optimist, viewership of the English News genre could only go up from that low of week 47 of 2019.
Please refer to the figures below:
Top 5 English News channels in week 48 of 2019
The Arnab Goswami led Republic TV continued its dominance of the English News genre at first rank in week 48 of 2019 with an increase in weekly viewership of 35 percent or 0.197 million weekly impressions to reach 0.755 million weekly impressions from the 0.588 million weekly impressions it had garnered in the previous week.
Times Now continued at second place with a 35 percent or 0.146 million weekly impressions increase in week 48 of 2019 to reach 0.561 million weekly impressions from 0.415 million weekly impressions in week 47.
India Today Television climbed up a place to fourth rank with an increase of 36 percent or 0.102 million weekly impressions in week 48 of 2019 to reach 0.383 million weekly impressions from fourth rank and 0.281 million weekly impressions in the previous week.
CNN News18 also climbed up a place to fourth rank with an increase of 0.05 million weekly impressions in week 48 of 2019 to reach 0.268 million weekly impressions from fifth rank and 0.218 million weekly impressions in week 47.
DD India slipped two places to fifth rank in week 48 of 2019 with a decline of 0.064 million weekly impressions to reach 0.244 million weekly impressions from third rank and 0.308 million weekly impressions in the previous week.
Please refer to the figure below:
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.
