News Broadcasting
Mudra Videotec gets ready for new shows on DD
After a long hiatus, Mudra Videotec, the television software production and marketing arm of advertising major Mudra Communications is all set to renew the golden relationship it shared with Doordarshan in its halcyon days.
After soap Shayad Tum, it has now announced the launch of a new daily soap to be launched from 3 June on DD National.
Mera Humsafar, concieved and written by experienced film and TV professional Vinod Pande, is a moving tale of a single mother and her mentally challenged daughter. “The serial potrays the adversities faced by the family in life and how they cope with these with dignity and determination to finally emerge victorious”, says Pande, who has earlier written and directed several hit DD shows including Air Hostess, Reporter, Ek Kahaani and Detective Pradhaan.
An inspiring saga, it hopes to educate people about dealing with a common and socially stigmatized problem of having a special child. Mudra Videotech creative consultant Abhigyan Jha says viewers, bored of “saas bahu” dramas, need a change. “If you study the top 10 shows on DD, you can see that they belong to different genres.”
An upbeat Mudra Videotec CEO Kaushik Roy too seems pretty confident of the success of Mera Humsafar. “Within a short span, we have made a meaningful comeback with relevant and popular programmes on air. We are proud of our association with Vinod Pande and Mera Humsafar has all the potential of being a new trendsetter on TV,” he says.
Mudra has in the past produced some of the most succesful shows on Indian television such as Buniyaad, Udaan, Rajani and Chunauti among others. It has developed 11 projects in the last six months, prominent among them the sucessfull, Shayad Tum starring Shekar Suman and Mandira Bedi.
Roy says Mudra has taken on the challenge of a different theme consciously and is willing to face the risk. Roy’s stand seems to be in place since Godrej, Johnson & Johnson, Dabur, Colgate, Nirma and Kunwar Ajay sarees have already come on board. Mera Humsafar stars Abhimanyu Singh potraying Jeeten and Barkha Madaan as Poonam, the female protaganist.
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.
