News Broadcasting
News18 HSM Network’s new campaign highlights the need for following traffic rules
Mumbai: News18 Network, which has always been at the forefront of picking up issues that have a direct and significant impact on viewers, launched a new campaign to focus on road safety issues.
News18 Bihar/Jharkhand and News18 Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand will specifically focus on the importance of wearing a helmet with their campaigns “Helmet lagaiye, surakshit ghar aayiye” and “Helmet pehno, surakshit raho,” respectively. News18 Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh will also be launching a special awareness drive titled “Sadak, Suraksha…Saavdhani.”
The campaigns will consist of special stories, ground reports, and special interviews. The focus will be on not only engaging viewers and the public at large but also partnering with local authorities. The key objective would be to highlight the dangers of ignoring traffic rules through various case studies and discussions with experts.
The campaigns will also encourage a constructive discussion on the root cause for such behaviour but more importantly will focus on ways and means of encouraging widespread adherence to traffic rules. By spreading awareness and sensitising viewers, these campaigns will certainly aim to have a tangible impact by reducing road fatalities. They will also focus on ways and means of strengthening the enforcement of traffic rules and highlight any lacunae in road/traffic infrastructure that need to be addressed.
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.
