News Broadcasting
News Nation readies second channel launch as it celebrates first anniversary
MUMBAI: As the country heads into general elections, there’s a regional Hindi news channel being added.
As it celebrates its first anniversary today, News Nation, a national Hindi news channel, has geared up to enter the regional news channel space with the launch of a channel for the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
News Nation’s news channel for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand is all set to be launched on 19 February. The new channel already has 200 employees on board. The dry runs of the news channel are on but the name of the channel has not yet been disclosed.
The Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand channel will operate from two main offices in Lucknow and Dehradun and have bureaus in 10 other cities, including in Varanasi, Jhansi, Meerut and Agra.
News Nation’s Senior Editor Ranjeet Kumar will be the editorial head of the Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand channel.
The channel on the launch day will be available to all cable TV viewers in the two states as well as to subscribers of DTH television service provider Freedish.
News Nation has invested almost Rs 50 crore in its second news channel. A marketing campaign for the new channel, like in the case of News Nation, will follow a month after the launch.
The new channel will initially be free of advertisements. “We have a rule that we let the people sample the content we have, get the ratings and then reach out to advertisers,” says News Nation CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Shailesh Kumar.
The programming of the channel will be youth focussed. The vibrant colours of the two states will reflect in the logo as compared to the neutral logo of the national channel.
The Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand news channel will not have the usual programming focussed on entertainment, crime and astrology. The channel will have hard news but minus any sensationalism. “You can compare News Nation to any international channel,” says Kumar buoyantly.
The network has ambitious plans to expand its presence in the country. “We are currently studying markets to identify areas that are lacking good quality news channels and after that we will choose our locations,” says Kumar. He also added that there is no restriction on staying just in the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM).
According to TAM data provided by the channel, News Nation has garnered an average of 68 TVTs between weeks 3 and 6 for CS 15+ age group in the HSM.
News Nation is looking at signing annual advertisement deals with various clients before the election season sets in. Currently, it only has four to five minutes of advertising per hour.
After having built a credible space for itself within a year, News Nation is optimistic that its first regional channel will also achieve similar success.
“The road for us was not easy as this is an extremely cluttered genre. We clearly understood that there was a need for a Hindi news channel which was aggressive yet relevant, a channel based on pure news content yet blooming with new ideas and therefore, we came up with News Nation and within months of its launch it crossed over its competitors in terms of ratings,” says Kumar.
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.
