News Broadcasting
Navratilova, Rusedski join BBC’s Wimbledon commentary team
MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC has announced that record, nine-time Wimbledon Women’s champion Martina Navratilova and former World no.4 and US Open finalist Greg Rusedski are the latest recruits to the BBC’s television commentary team for this year’s Wimbledon Championships.
Navratilova and Rusedski join viewers favourite John McEnroe who returns this year, alongside fellow Wimbledon champions, three-time victor Boris Becker and two-time winner Jimmy Connors, who will be combining his TV work with coaching Andy Roddick.
Also back this year is Virginia Wade, celebrating the 30th anniversary of her win over Betty Stove in the 1977 Wimbledon Women’s Singles Final during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.
Tracy Austin also returns for a fifth year behind the microphone. A winner of the mixed-doubles title at Wimbledon with her brother John in 1980, Tracy also won the US Open twice, in 1979 and 1981.
With live and exclusive coverage beginning Monday 25 June on BBC One and BBC Two, BBC Radio Five Live, interactive through BBCi, and bbc.co.uk/sport, you can follow all the action from SW19 wherever you are.
Once again, Sue Barker will present the BBC’s live coverage from the All England Club, with John Inverdale fronting the nightly highlights programme, Today At Wimbledon.
Britain’s Davis Cup captain John Lloyd also returns and joins the regular team of Andrew Castle, Annabel Croft, Pat Cash, Peter Fleming, Michael Stich, Mark Cox, Sam Smith and Liz Smylie – all adding their expertise to the BBC’s coverage.
David Mercer, Barry Davies, Simon Reed and Chris Bradnam will also be back in action in the commentary box and will be joined by Andy Murray’s former coach, Mark Petchey.
Adding colour and atmosphere as roving reporters will be Hazel Irvine, Garry Richardson, Phil Jones and Rishi Persad.
The BBC will again be using the unique ball tracking system, Hawk-Eye.
Jason Goodall will be giving viewers an in-depth analysis of the intricacies of a players’ game and highlighting patterns of play.
In addition to this the umpires on Centre and No.1 Courts will, for the first time, use Hawk-Eye as an official umpiring tool to assist with contentious line call decisions and illustrate whether or not a ball was in or out. Players will receive three unsuccessful appeals per set plus an additional one during a tie-break.
Wimbledon will be broadcast in High Definition (HD) for the entire two weeks of the tournament. HD coverage will be available on the trial BBC HD Channel to digital satellite and cable viewers who have HD set-top boxes and televisions.
BBC Radio Five Live will bring listeners all the action live from Wimbledon with Simon Mayo and Clare Balding presenting coverage daily.
The interactive TV service will be once again offering digital viewers a whole host of extra features. In addition to terrestrial coverage, satellite and cable viewers have the chance to choose live action from up to five courts of play, and Freeview viewers have access to four extra courts, plus all the latest news, scores and results.
The service will also include text pages offering news, live scores and results. The interactive TV service will also replay Today At Wimbledon throughout the night and early morning for viewers to catch up on the day’s play.
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.
