News Broadcasting
Nimbus adds some non-cricket sports to its plate
MUMBAI: “The next big opportunity area in Indian sport after cricket will be football.”
Wishful thinking? Not if you ask Nimbus Communications executive chairman Harish Thawani.
With a very successful conclusion of the cricket World Cup behind World Sport Nimbus (a 50:50 JV with World Sport Group), Thawani is now looking beyond cricket to other areas in the sports broadcast, marketing and management arena.
One big project (if it takes off that is) could be the Jawaharlal Nehru Cup international football tournament, which WSN is contemplating resurrecting. The tournament has been in limbo since 1997 with on and off talk of its revival (the last time was in May 2002 by All India Football Federation president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi).
Says Thawani: “We will bring football events to India. We’ve been asked to rejigg the Nehru International soccer tourney and take it up on a long-term contract. It’s a great tournament that didn’t make its mark which we believe has to do with the quality of brand management that goes into running an international event. Our partners (WSG) are in charge of the Asian Football Confederation. The entire Asian circuit is handled by them so there is strong expertise already in the group for football.”
“We haven’t said yes yet (to the Nehru Cup) so I can’t definitely say we will be doing it this year. If not we will be doing something else in football because we believe it is the next big opportunity area.”
Though football still remains only an opportunity for Nimbus, more definite projects on the immediate horizon are bowling, snooker and golf.
“We’ve been signed on by the World Bowling Federation and we are managing the World Bowling Championships in Malaysia in August-September, doing the TV production and the worldwide distribution,” asserts Thawani. “We’ve just been signed on by the World Snooker Federation as the Asian leg franchisee,” he adds.
Speaking of golf he says, “In a quick rollout we are bringing more golf events to India because of our affiliation through our partner with the Asian PGA.”
Queried as to whether hockey, which is currently seeing some sort of a revival in the country, would get a look-in, Thawani replies in the negative. “Hockey is a non-television game. It’s too fast moving, the ball is too small, and there are not enough breaks. Squash and badminton face the same problems. If it is too fast moving a sport, if the object, the ball, is too small, and if you don’t have enough breaks, that’s death as far as television is concerned,” he says.
Football, with just one half time interval as a break, happens to be by far the world’s most popular sport. But that could be said to be the exception that proves the rule.
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.
