News Broadcasting
Natpe to focus on the theme of evolve and prosper
MUMBAI: The National Association of Television Programme Executives’ (Natpe) annual conference takes place in Las Vegas from 15-18 January 2006.
Addressing the changes in the television industry and the opportunities those changes are creating inspired Natpe president and CEO Rick Feldman to adopt the Evolve and Prosper tagline as the edict for the conference and exhibition.
Explaining the evolve portion of the tagline, Feldman says: “For a very long time, Natpe was the domestic syndication market and conference. Over the past few years, however, the world has really changed, becoming much more global and with the advent of all of the digital technologies, Natpe has become much more of a global digital content distribution market and conference.
“We have added Natpe Mobile ++ and we have a full three-day agenda for the conference portion of the Natpe event that creates a snapshot of the world of television as it is going to appear the second week in January 2007.”
With regard to how Natpe helps its members and participants prosper, Feldman says, “We create the most effective and efficient market and conference environment from which people can do business. One of the things that we can’t control is the ebb and flow of the business. But what we can control is, from the moment people come to Natpe until they leave that everything that could be done has been done to make doing business and meeting people and learning about what is going on in our world as effortless as possible.”
Clarifying Natpe’s role and service to the industry by saying that the organissation is not a predictor or maker of business, but rather a reflector of the business, Feldman says, “If you dropped someone from Mars at Natpe for a four-day visit, I would hope that we would serve as the newspaper of record in terms of what’s happening in our world.
“Many other conferences and markets both in this country and around the world are specific to a certain genre or a specific part of the business. One of the great things about Natpe, and I’ve attended a lot of them over the past three decades, including the last four as president of the organisation, is that now more than ever before, you’re going to find people from every single sector of the television business. What we’ve really tried to do is stay a half a step behind where the business is going and reflect that so that those who normally aren’t involved in a certain discourse can be when they go to NATPE. They’ll see those parts of the business that affect the way they do business, but may not affect them on a day-to-day basis.”
Natpe 2007 kicks off with an address by Wired magazine editor-in-chief Chris Anderson He wrote the book The Long Tail. His speech will be followed by a panel discussion centering on his Long Tail theory about markets that lie outside the reach of the physical retailer. Panelists will include ICM vice chairman Robert Broder; Sci Fi Channel and USA Networks president Bonnie Hammer and Fox Interactive Media president Ross Levinsohn.
Among Natpe’s offerings are its intimate discussion opportunities with today’s industry leaders. Coffee With? and Chat With? sessions are scheduled throughout the conference and provide attendees with insight as well as access.
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.
