News Broadcasting
‘Mandela SOS’ global television concert in February
CAPE TOWN: Aids awareness concerts and events are the flavour of the yuletide season. The Mandela SOS Concert ,to be held on Robben’s Island in South Africa on 2 February 2003, will be broadcast globally on selected television networks.
The human rights concert aims at raising awareness and funds to fight the escalating human crisis that HIV/ Aids has become. The Mandela SOS concert, presented by EPOP Productions, (Education Powers Our Planet), will be staged within the walls of the maximum security prison on Robben Island in which Mandela spent 18 years of his prison term.
Tickets will be free and distributed by competition or lottery, details of which will be announced shortly. MSN, one of the sponsors of the live event, will host the Mandela MSN website (http://www.mandelasos.com), which will feature coverage of the live event. The concert line-up will be announced in the coming weeks.
Proceeds from the event will be distributed to The Nelson Mandela Foundation, UNAIDS (the joint UN programme on HIV/ Aids) the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Robben Island Museum.
The announcement of the launch event took place at the National Botanical Gardens in Cape Town. Mandela is being supported in this endeavour by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, media personality Oprah Winfrey, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Diesel President and Founder Renzo Rosso.
An official release stated that Africa has been hit harder by HIV/Aids than any other region of the world with more than 17 million succumbing to the disease and another 28.1 million infected with HIV. Currently there are 11 million Aids orphans in Africa and experts caution there may be more than 25 million by the end of this decade in the absence of concrete remedial action.
Meanwhile, A Time for Heroes initiative with Richard Gere is also scheduled to take place in Mumbai on 20 December.
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.
