News Broadcasting
Prasad prioritises professionalism on DD, AIR
NEW DELHI: Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterated on Monday that developmental information can also be presented in a way that is both entertaining and educative.
He also said priority would be given to encourage creativity, professionalism and competition on Doordarshan and All India Radio as compared to other private channels. Presiding over the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the ministry, Prasad said the effort would be to promote creativity so that “development presentation also becomes entertainment.”
The other area getting his priority would be films which have growth rate of 100 per cent and great potential of employment and revenue generation (Prasad had said this in an interview to indiantelevision.com earlier after taking over the new portfolio). According to him, he would see that this sector gets the best incentive, initiative and support.
The minister said that both DD and AIR have the best available talent and are capable of producing much better programmes, but what they must do is to project themselves properly and “market aggressively.” He said that the government would provide more support for content creation.
Prasad reiterated his favourite theme : both DD and AIR would project the 10th Plan in order to inform people so that they are able to participate in the implementation of this ‘People’s Plan’. The public service broadcaster character of Doordarshan and AIR must be maintained and should not be affected by commercial considerations, he told the parliamentary panel.
Meanwhile, addressing the valedictory ceremony of the 15th International Engineering and Technology Fair 2003, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry on Monday, Prasad hinted that the Chinese market too provides immense business opportunities for the Indian entertainment sector. Expansion of Indo Chinese trade in the entertainment sector was one of the key initiatives that would be taken up by his ministry, he added.
During yesterday’s parliamentary committee meeting, Prasad said that DD India, the international channel of Doordarshan was extremely popular among Indians abroad. It beams live national events like the Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations for its global audience. Its programming aims at offering an update on the India’s social, cultural, political and economic scene. It carries ‘live’ news bulletins in Hindi, English, Sanskrit and Urdu, hourly news headlines, features on political events and discussions on events of national and international significance, Prasad said.
DD India has also begun telecasting regional language bulletins in Malayalam, Gujarati and Tamil to begin with. The channel now telecasts 18 hours of fresh programming.
The meeting was also intimated that the Development Communication Division has undertaken publicity campaigns for several Central Ministries and departments. A Rural Development campaign is targeted at 600 districts and 6,00,000 villages, broadcasting programmes in 29 languages and dialects. Over 1000 programmes and 233 spots have been produced on health care, population and poverty, pulse polio, blood donation, AIDS awareness, iodine deficiency etc, he said.
Doordarshan commands a viewership of 259 million. As compared to this, among private channels, Star Plus has a viewership of 54 million, Sony 41 million and Zee TV 36 million, according to the minister. All channels put together, DD reaches 259 million as compared to the combined viewership of 166 million of all channels, the minister informed parliamentarians who are members of the panel.
Percentage wise, Doordarshan News captures 89.91 per cent, Aaj Tak 5.47 per cent, Zee News 2.84 per cent, Star News 1.32 per cent, BBC 0.20 per cent and CNBC 0.13 per cent of the population. The members gave several suggestions to improve Doordarshan programmes so that it is able to maintain its prime place in broadcasting in India .
Those who attended included Balram Singh Yadav, Hannan Mollah, E.M. Sudarsna Natchiappan, C Narayana Reddy, Kartar Singh Duggal, S.S Chandran, A.J. Maroo and Saroj Dubey.
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.
