News Broadcasting
Murdoch sued in US over fall in Gemstar share value
MUMBAI: News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch and elder son Lachlan are being sued by shareholders in TV guide company Gemstar over the $30 billion fall in its value in the past two years.
News Corp, which owns 42 per cent of Gemstar, and the Murdochs, who sit on the US company’s board, stand accused of helping defraud investors by “causing Gemstar to engage in unlawful conduct.” The lawsuit claims Gemstar failed to issue reports showing the falling value of the business and threats to its major asset, patents for a system to record television programmes, the thisislondon.co.uk website has reported.
At a time when investors are scrutinizing US companies’ accounting statements for numbers perceived as false or misleading, a judge’s determination that Gemstar’s patents haven’t been infringed once again calls into question Gemstar’s revenue recognition policies. Earlier this year, the company disclosed that it had recorded more than $100 million in licensing revenue from Scientific-Atlanta since 1999, even though Scientific-Atlanta had refused to pay up and then sued Gemstar in federal court to get a ruling that it wasn’t infringing on Gemstar’s patents.
News Corp has had to write off about $4 billion of its investment in Gemstar and is expected to write off another $1billion when it reports results later this month, says thisislondon.co.uk.
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.
