News Broadcasting
Nielsen peoplemeters to serve top 10 US TV markets
NEW YORK: With strong backing from key broadcasting and cable clients, Nielsen Media Research has announced a rollout schedule for bringing continuous, overnight demographic ratings into the top 10 television markets in the US.
Nielsen has said it will launch electronic people meter ratings service in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Francisco next year. The people meter service will be expanded to include Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Detroit and Dallas-Ft. Worth in 2005, and Atlanta the following year.
NBC, ABC, Comcast, Time Warner Cable in New York and Los Angeles and Adlink in Los Angeles have backed Nielsen for the local People Meter service.
An official release informs that the Nielsen Peoplemeter will replace the current meter-diary measurement system in the top 10 markets. This is expected to have a major impact on every aspect of the television business. Local Peoplemeters will enable media executives to buy and sell commercial time and make programming, scheduling and promotional decisions continuously, instead of waiting for sweeps months for the demographic ratings the release states.
The top 10 television markets include nearly 32 million TV households, or 30 per cent of all US television households. More than $8 billion is spent just on local television advertising in the top 10 markets. At the same time, Nielsen Media Research intends to nearly double the size of the national people meter sample over the next four years. The national peoplemeter sample produces the ratings that are the currency for all broadcast and cable networks and national syndication sales.
NBC will support Nielsen Peoplemeter service in its owned-station markets: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. ABC has agreed to support Nielsen People Meter service for its owned television stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco.
The US’ largest cable television service Comcast will support the service in all of the top 10 markets, including Boston where it already subscribes to the service.
In addition Nielsen is expanding the size of its National Peoplemeter Sample. The present national sample of approximately 5,000 households will grow to nearly 10,000 households when the expansion is completed in 2006. As part of the sample expansion plan, when local Peoplemeter service is introduced into each of the top 10 markets, Nielsen will include these homes, on a weighted basis, into the National Sample.
Ratings from the Nielsen Peoplemeter are used as the currency for more than $30 billion in national annual advertising expenditures in the US. The Nielsen Peoplemeter was introduced into the US in 1987 to measure national viewership for broadcast and cable networks and well as nationally syndicated television programmes.
The Top 10 US Television Markets
Rank Market TV Homes per cent covered LPM Date
1 New York 7,282,320 6.829 2004
2 Los Angeles 5,318,040 4.987 2004
3 Chicaog 3,351,330 3.143 2004
4 Philadelphia 2,830,470 2.654 2005
5 San Fancisco 2,436,220 2.284 2004
6 Boston 2,353,500 2.207 2002
7 Dallas-Ft Worth 2,195,540 2.059 2005
8 Washington, DC 2,169,230 2.034 2005
9 Atlanta 1,971,180 1.848 2006
10 Detroit 1,899,910 1.782 2005
Total 31,807,740 29.827
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.
