News Broadcasting
Now Reuters to outsource to India
LONDON: Outsourcing to India has now spread to journalism.
Reuters, which is implementing a massive cost-cutting programme, is to try out the reporting of Western business news from a base in Bangalore.
India has seen a flood of call centre and IT jobs from the West but now companies are looking at putting core operations and more sophisticated positions, such as equity research, in the country.
Reuters is to hire a reporting team to work alongside its existing data-entry operation in Bangalore.
Initially only half a dozen journalists will be taken on for the pilot scheme. They will concentrate on reporting about small and medium-sized companies listed in the United States.
David Schlesinger, Reuters’ global managing editor, said depending on the results of the trial, the journalism operation in Bangalore could be significantly expanded.
“It’s not just call centre jobs in India any more. What is very appealing is that there are a very well-educated people there, with good English…It’s a question of doing work where it is best suited,” he said.
Schlesinger said the Indian journalists would do “basic” reporting from “standardised announcements” such as company results. If the story turned out to need further investigation and interviews with company officials, Reuters journalists in the US would take over to produce updated versions of the news.
The move would enable Reuters to expand its coverage of small and medium-sized companies and that “cost was only one factor” in hiring the new journalists in India.
“We will still have journalists elsewhere doing the value-added stuff. This will free up journalists in the West for value-added, such as interviewing,” Schlesinger said.
Although Reuters is going through a restructuring process, which will see the loss of 5,000 jobs, the number of reporting positions has been almost completely protected from the drive to reduce the cost base by one billion pounds.
The company’s revenues have plummeted over the past three years as its customers in the financial services industry have retrenched.
“This pilot will not affect the jobs of any current employees,” Schlesinger said.
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.
