News Broadcasting
Rich media ad product on Lycos Network
US: Terra Lycos, which claims to be the largest global Internet network has announced that CheckM8, a new rich media advertising product, has been deployed on the Lycos Network.
CheckM8 is an end-to-end rich media and integrated marketing solution for the rapid and easy production, management and deployment of innovative media units including floating ads, preview ads, footer and margin ads, watermarks and many more. With the new technology, Lycos can dramatically compress the time it takes to implement creative online advertising, allowing clients to quickly realize the benefits of high impact messaging and to easily adjust the creative to suit their needs.
Lycos claims to have historically embraced rich media ad units as an opportunity to provide value to both advertisers and users. CheckM8 allows the company to implement ad campaigns that combine innovative branding with response-based ad units that can play a key roll in offline/online consumer messaging efforts. An official release informs that Lycos conducted limited tests of the CheckM8 products over the past few months successfully. Lycos claims that clients who have tested CheckM8 have deployed campaigns in a fraction of the time required to launch many other rich media formats and enjoyed click-through rates well above rates seen on standard Internet advertising products.
The release says Lycos Network made a big move toward rich media advertising late last year when it re-launched its network with a new media-friendly architecture. By regulating the number of exposures per user rather than restricting placement of new ad formats, Lycos streamlined the network with a uniform architecture that was almost universally accepting of diverse rich media formats.
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.
