News Broadcasting
NBC ups the stakes on game show ‘Deal Or No Deal’
MUMBAI: US broadcaster NBC has announced that it has upped the ante by raising the top prize money, along with contestants’ blood pressure, by half a million dollars each night when the game show Deal or No Deal returns on 27 February for its week-long mid-season premiere
Contestants will be surprised when the new stakes are revealed. The top prize will be $1.5 million, and as the week progresses, the top prize will escalate each night by an additional one-half million dollars, concluding on 3 March with a $3-million-dollar prize.
The contestants will need nerves of steel to decide whether to put their trust in themselves or their support group as they are confronted with life-altering financial decisions in a highly pressured environment.
Also returning to the show will be the “Lucky Case Game,” a live interactive element where viewers in each of the three time zones in the US have a chance to win $10,000 by texting on their cell phones or by logging onto the Deal or No Deal website at www.nbc.com.
At various points in the show, viewers will be alerted on how to play and all of the viewers who correctly selected the lucky case will be pooled together with the winner chosen at random. The lucky case will be revealed and the winner will be announced live at the end of the each show.
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.
