News Broadcasting
News channels on road to slow recovery
NEW DELHI: Stung by high costs, shrinkage in the genre share and a slowdown in the economy, news channels have had a tough year. Expansion plans were shelved, the workforce was trimmed and operations were rationalised.
The TV news industry is now beginning to show early signs of recovery as the economy is improving. “The ad volumes are coming back. It is a matter of time when the rates will also come back,” said Star News CEO Ashok Venkatramani.
Still, news channels are far from being out of trouble. “One of the problems is that broadcasting is looked upon independently as a separate sector whereas it should include distribution. The total industry gets approximately Rs 300-350 billion. We hope to get our share of the distribution pie. The need is for a more addressable system,” said NDTV Group CEO KVL Narayan Rao.
Agreed TV Today executive director and CEO G Krishnan, “About Rs 150 billion resides with the last mile. We want a share of that.”
The challenge for news broadcasters is also to retain eyeballs at a time when events are absent. Though the total news audience grew 11 per cent in 2009, the time spent on news channels has fallen.
“In 2009, there were lesser events. Regional news channels were eating into Hindi news. The viewership for English news channels has, however, grown,” said Tam Media Research CEO LV Krishnan, while speaking at the News Television (NT) Summit.
The session on ‘Reality dawns in the news business’ was moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder and Editor-in-Chief Anil Wanvari.
News channels, particularly in the Hindi space, are facing competition from general entertainment channels. The hard task cut out for news broadcasters is to have newsy as well as entertaining content in the mix.
LV Krishnan said audiences don’t always accept frivolous content. “Social issues and science and technology work in smaller towns. Politics and astrology content work in metro markets,” he said.
G Krishnan dismissed charges of weak newsy content on news channels. “About 65 per cent of content on news channels is pure news. Not more than 35 per cent is entertaining content,” he said.
He blamed the government for interfering with pricing. “The content can’t improve because we are dominantly dependent on advertising revenues. Allow free market to take place,” he added.
Den president SN Sharma said many new channels have been launched without a proper understanding of the distribution costs that they have to cough out to cable TV operators.
P7 News director Jyoti Narain said news is coming back to news channels, while Sahara Media India CEO and Editor-in-Chief Sanjeev Srivastava raised the question of how news channels could arrive at an agreement on sharing infrastructure for news gathering.
Associated Broadcasting Company Ltd (TV9) VP operations NVN Murthy said the regional space was on a growth trajectory and his company posted a 35 per cent growth even during the downturn phase.
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.
