News Broadcasting
NDTV 24X7 hops on to Time Warner Cable in the US
MUMBAI: Hungry for expansion outside of India, one of India’s leading English news channels has grabbed a space on the coveted Time Warner Cable (TWC) in the US. NDTV 24X7 will now be available to subscribers in New York City as well as boroughs of Brooklyn, Manhattan, LA, Dallas, Austin and Rio Grande Valley region in Texas in the ‘Hindi Pass Plus’ or the ‘Passport Pack.’
With this the channel aims to reach about 20,000 households through the partnership. The ‘Hindi Passport Pack’ costs about $70 while the ‘Hindi Pass Plus Pack’ costs about $40. The former has channels such as Star Plus, Sony, Zee TV, Life OK, Willow, TV Asia, Star Gold, NDTV 24×7, ITV Gold, Filmy, UTV Movies and Bollywood On Demand while the latter provides Star Plus, Sony, Zee TV, Life OK, Willow, TV Asia, NDTV 24×7 and ITV Gold.
The subscription range for channels on this platform range from $1 million to $1.5 million. NDTV is also available on the DTH platform Dish Network. The average ARPU in the US is around $40 and packs such as Indian, Chinese, Arabic have high prices. Unlike India, NDTV 24X7 does not have to pay any carriage fee to the distribution platforms in the US.
“Asian Indians in the US are among the affluent communities,” says NDTV AVP for network distribution and affiliate sales Rohit Jaiswal speaking to indiantelevision.com. “We will be looking at deals with more cable operators in the US going forward in the next two years,” he adds. Europe is also a part of the expansion plan since the channel says it is already well distributed in other parts of the world.
NDTV Group CEO Vikram Chandra said in a press statement, “NDTV is delighted to partner with Time Warner Cable to bring its content and the election to an even wider audience in the US. The US is a very crucial market for us and the launch of the channel on TWC is a testimony to the trust that our affiliates and viewers from all over the world have shown in our brand and our quality over these years. NDTV, today, is available in 17 million households across 75 countries outside India and now looks forward to serving the TWC households with the same award-winning programmes and keeping them abreast with the constantly evolving events in India.”
Earlier this year the US’s largest cable company Comcast announced that it intended to buy the second largest cable company TWC for $45 billion. This deal is under federal consideration for approval. If the proposed acquisition does get through, it could well be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for Indian channels.
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.
