News Broadcasting
NBC’s ‘Will And Grace’ kicks off final season with live episode
MUMBAI: It is time for another sitcom to come to an end. The eight and final season of NBC’s sitcom Will And Grace kicks off tomorrow 29 September with a live episode. In India the show airs on Zee Cafe.
The first episode will feature returning guest star Alec Baldwin. The episode will include 100 audience members who contributed a total of $10,000 for the American Red Cross and Hurricane Katrina victims. Two versions will be telecast, one live for the East Coast and one for the West Coast, resulting in different jokes to be used in each separate broadcast.
Multiple Emmy-winning director James Burrows will direct the premiere. The charity-givers in the live audience bid on nbc.com for the privilege of attending the show. Each of the 100 people paid $100 – amounting to $10,000 – which was donated to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund.
The prior season ending left Grace played by Debra Messing in a romantic bind with a married man while Will played by Eric McCormack discovered that Karen’s ex-husband Stan — thought to be dead — was in fact, alive.
The season premiere will follow up on these plot lines, and also offer viewers more news on Jack’s played by Sean Hayes new job as the host of his own talk show. Baldwin returns as Will’s new boss who is secretly working for Stan while also romancing Karen.
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.
