News Broadcasting
News Corp posts $422 m first-quarter profit
NEW YORK: Things are looking up at Rupert Murodoch’s media conglomerate News Corp. The company has reported that its first-quarter profit more than doubled on strong DVD movie sales of Daredevil and Phone Booth as well as ad gains at its Fox News channel.
The Sydney, Australia-based owner of the New York Post, 20th Century Fox studios and Gemstar-TV Guide posted a net profit of $422 million, or 32 cents per American depositary receipts, compared with $162 million, or 12 cents per ADR, a year ago.
However Fox’s television network suffered a 20 per cent decline in prime-time ratings in the quarter. Reports indicate that the drop suggests some of the difficulty that the company faces finding successors to its recent reality television hits like American Idol and Joe Millionaire. In India the latter airs on Star World. Revenue at the television division fell to A$1.01 billion from A$1.02 billion.
At the company’s Filmed Entertainment division, the biggest contributor to its earnings, revenue rose to A$1.25 billion from $882 million in the first quarter of the previous year, Looking ahead the company is placing its bets on the Russell Crowe starrer Master And Commander which recently opened in the US.
However due to the disappointing performance at the television outfit its operating income, which accounts for a quarter of the company’s total, fell five per cent, to $179 million. The Fox Broadcasting Network reported an operating loss of $45 million, compared with a loss of $8 million a year earlier. This managed to offset higher profits for Star TV.
News Corp COO Peter Chernin attributed this to the cancellation of several new shows like The Ortegas and Cedric. Reports also indicate that News Corp gets about 75 per cent of its revenues and around 80 per cent of its operating income from the US.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed chief executive of BSkyB, James Murdoch has pledged to resume dividend payments of the company after a five-year gap. “There is a resolution at the board to discuss future dividends and that will be done,” he says.
Murdoch also says that BSkyB’s cash flow would not be diverted to funding projects for News Corp, the media empire controlled by his father Rupert Murdoch that owns about 35 percent of BSkyB.
Calls for a resumption of dividend payouts rose earlier this year when BSkyB reported its first annual profit in five years for the year to June, as it continued to add subscribers and grow revenue.
Also, revenues for the Big Three broadcasters, ABC, CBS and NBC have also gone up almost six per cent in the third quarter, according to data compiled by accounting firm Ernst & Young.
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.
