News Broadcasting
NDTV, Business Today correspondents get CNN awards
NEW DELHI: NDTV correspondent Sidharth Pandey and Business Today senior correspondent Kushan Mitra have won the first CNN Young Journalists Award-India (CNN-YJA) in the TV and print/online categories respectively.
Aaj Tak principal correspondent and news anchor Rahul Kanwal and zeenews.com copywriter Shruti Gupta have been named the runners up in the categories.
The CNN awards was announced last evening at a function held in Delhi.
Pandey and Mitra will now get to spend two weeks at CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta and runners up, Kanwal and Gupta will be sent to work closely with CNN’s New Delhi Bureau.
They will undergo an intense schedule at the headquarters, which will add value to their existing journalistic experience. The winners will also meet with CNN International’s editors and anchors, and experience first-hand the workings of the news agency’s editorial and programming teams.
Siddhinath Vishwakarma, assistant producer of Sahara Samay (on the foreign desk) also received a consolation prize in the TV category.
The awards look forward to recognise and encourage quality journalism among young media professionals in India.
How, when, why
CNN-YJA came to India in August 2003. Entries were open to all young news journalists (print or television), between 22 and 26 years of age.
Contestants in the television category were required to create a 2:30 minute news feature style TV package based on the standards for CNN’s programme World Report. Contestants for the print/online category were asked to submit their best by-lined stories, published between 1 January and 30 September 2003.
A panel of judges comprising distinguished television and print journalists selected the winners. The jury members included K Kunhikrishnan of Doordarshan; Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, director of School of Convergence; Professor B P Sanjay, director of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in New Delhi; Karan Thapar, president of Infotainment Television; and Satinder Bindra, CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief.
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.
