News Broadcasting
News Corp looking at biz news channel by year-end
MUMBAI: While Viacom is looking at splitting its business into two separate publicly-traded companies, the Rupert Murdoch owned media conglomerate News Corp is not looking at doing something similar.
News Corp COO Peter Chernin was quoted in a Reuters report saying, “We don’t believe synergy is dead. We have no intentions of splitting up.” News Corp is also planning to launch a business news channel in the US by the end of this year. The company has already begun work designing the channel.
Fox Reality Channel will start airing in May. Chernin expects more than 20 million potential viewers, 14 million of whom will be from pay TV operator DirecTV.
Meanwhile, another report in Hollywood Reporter states that the synergies that News Corp has will allow Fox to keep Reality’s first-year costs to about $15 million, compared with average launch costs of $75 million for most cable channels. On the sporting front Fox could rival ESPN if it gets the National Football League rights which are with Disney.
American media analysts also maintain that there is strong potential for an alliance with an Internet portal like Yahoo! – which seeks Hollywood content from film studios and TV production arms like those of 20th Century Fox – and working partnerships with such traditional media outlets as the Fox O&Os and cable networks to raise its own competitive reach. News Corp recently engaged the services of consulting firm McKinsey to help construct a companywide strategy for an Internet extension of all of its businesses.
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.
