News Broadcasting
NDTV India production head Garabadu quits to join Broadcast News
MUMBAI: Among The first to leave the NDTV fold after Rajdeep Sardesai is one of the two NDTV India channel heads (production), Rajen Garabadu , who has just put in his papers after nine years at the helm. Garabadu will now proceed to Broadcast News to take over as executive producer at the newly floated Rajdeep Sardesai-Sameer Manchanda venture which is backed and funded by Raghav Bahl’s TV 18.
Garabadu will be in charge of all production related activities including designing the work floor, deciding on the state of art technology, manpower, training and editing graphics. Sources say Garabadu is scheduled to join Broadcast News after a fortnight.
During his nine year stint at NDTV, Garabadu was part of the invigorated Big Fight and was part of the team responsible for mopping up several awards for Prannoy Roy’s company like the Asian Television Award 2003 for Best Talk Show for three consecutive years, and the Indian Telly awards for the same category in 2004.
Garabadu took over as channel head (production) at NDTV India in December 2004. Previously, he was the producer and director of the Big Fight since the first show aired on NDTV 24X7.
He joined in as production assistant, junior- assistant producer, assistant producer, associate producer, programme producer to producer and later elevated as channel head (production) of NDTV India.
He played a key part in the rejuvenation of Big Fight managing its look and feel of the show, although the core aspect remained the same. He was also part of Nation-Wide on Star News (which has been discontinued after NDTV ceased being a content provider to the Rupert-Murdoch’s Indian news broadcast arm).
Garabadu was also involved with Question Time India, which airs on BBC World. This show was earlier commissioned to NDTV. At present it is being produced by Karan Thapar’s company ITV.
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.
