News Broadcasting
Punjab cricket body proposes Pawar for top BCCI post
MUMBAI: Even as Indian cricket board supremo Jagmohan Dalmiya prepares for some legal jousting in the Supreme Court tomorrow, a battle on another front is well and truely joined. The stage is set for a fierce contest for the presidentship of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), with the Punjab Cricket Association having decided to nominate political heavyweight Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for the post.
Elections that will decide who takes over from Dalmiya at the helm of the world’s richest cricket board are to be held on Wednesday.
“The PCA has decided to give our nomination to Pawar at his request,” PCA Treasurer GS Walia was quoted as telling Press Trust of India on Monday.
The development is significant especially since Dalmiya is reportedly backing Haryana Cricket Association president Ranbir Singh Mahendra for the top job. Being sister state units, the PCA would normally have been expected to back the HCA. Dalmiya had initially supported BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley for the top job, but after the former union law and commerce minister withdrew from the race, put his weight behind Mahendra.
According to a report in the Indian Express, Dalmiya controls seven votes Cricket Association of Bengal, National Cricket Club (Kolkata), Tripura, Kerala, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh out of a possible 30. Of the remaining 23 votes, six are controlled by Congress politicians who run the Orissa, Hyderabad, Gujarat, MP, Assam and Goa units. Three are institutional votes services, universities and railways.
Pertinently, in both the BCCI presidency battle as well as the board’s fight in the Supreme Court, Dalmiya is confronting the same adversary in Zee group CMD Subhash Chandra. The reported “open lobbying” for the Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar by Chandra is being seen in industry circles as one of the reasons why the BCCI chief has now declared “open war” on Chandra.
It remains to be seen which of these two titans in their respective domains, both from the Marwari business community, comes out the winner in this no-holds barred slugfest.
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.
