News Broadcasting
Pratidin Time clarifies that News Time Assam is recepient of MIB ban for a day
MUMBAI: Guwahahti-based Yash TV Entertainment has clarified that its channel Pratidin Time is not the one which has been asked to go off the air on 9 November by the information & Broadcasting ministry (MIB) for gross violations of the content code.
Indiantelevision.com received an email message from Pratidin Time general manager Gaurav Goswami saying that “both channels are running successful on air as can be seen on the MIB list. But it is News Time Assam which has met with the MIB disapproval.”
The facts now: Yash TV Entertainment is a part of the Pratidin group founder Jayanta Baruah and his family, which own Assamese daily Asomiya Pratidin, Sadin, a weekly tabloid and a women’s monthly magazine Nandini.
News Time Assam is actually owned by the Kolkata-based Brand Value Communications but is run by the Guwahati-based UB Photo Group. The channel’s content producer Utpal Baruah told The Hindustan Times that the channel would be switched off on 9 November. “The channel has not being doing well. Hopefully, the free publicity will help us bring in investors,” he told the newspaper.
Utpal Baruah clarified that the Pratidin group had acquired the assets of News Time Assam last year, which later went on to launch its own channel Pratidin Time. However, the channel licence continued to be with Brand Value Communications, which later leased it to him.
Baruah additionally told The Hindustan Times that while the channel had been hauled up for three violations one of the violations was under the watch of the Pratidin group and the I&B punishment relates to that period.
An Assam based media observer clarified that “the confusion has arisen because Pratidin Time had on its Twitter and Wikipedia pages announced that News Time Assam was being renamed as Pratidiin Time. When the deal did not go through, corrections were not issued to all concerned, hence the misunderstanding that it was Pratidin Time which was being given correctional punishment by the MIB.”
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.
