News Broadcasting
Sab TV to launch seven new shows
MUMBAI: Monsoon showers call for some more chuckles on Sab TV. The Adhikari brothers promoted channel, which has adopted ‘Only Smiles, No tears’ positioning since May 2003, has been bullish on building up its humour quotient ever since.
Amongst the slew of launches that the channel has planned this monsoon are four new comedy shows and three chat shows. The channel will also be making a few amendments to its current programming schedule.
Continuing its tradition of producing humour based shows, the channel will bring four more this June- July. Amongst them is a detective comedy Jasoos 005. A mix of mysterious yet comical situations, the show stars Sab TV veteran Sushmita Mukherjee, alongside Sooraj Thapar, Nasir Khan, Rakhee Tandon and Liliput.
Next is a sitcom based on sweet n’ sour comical situations revolving around the lives of a non-vegetarian Punjabi family and a vegetarian Maharashtrian familyChuupke Chuupke. The show, directed by Rajan Waghdhare, has a romantic angle to it. While the storyline sounds suspiciously similar to a 70’s hit movie – the Kamal Hassan, Rati Agnihotri starrer Ek Duje Ke Liye – the sitcom will be minus the emotional drama, of course.
Hamse Hai Zamanaa is a sitcom revolving around the lives of young men and women of today. It is a lighter look at success, failures and triumphs, that is, the lives of the youngsters.
Next in line is a unique Hasya Kavi Sammelan Wah Wah. The show will see famous Hindi poets get together to recite humourous poems.
Although Sab TV’s news channel has not shown signs of launching anytime soon, the channel has been steadily building up its news and current affair content. What with Sab View (an analytical news bulletin programme) functioning smoothly alongside various chat shows, the channel will be launching three new chat shows.
Watchdog will look into all the scams, scandals and crimes in our country and Zimmedar Kaun? will aim at looking at both sides of the coin on various social issues, while Waqt Hamara Hai is the platform where youth can voice their opinions on issues affecting them.
In addition to the launches, the channel will get its popular current affairs programmes like Vir Sanghvi hosted Faces & Names, Swati Chaturvedi’s Khuch Khaas Baatein, Jan Sansad by Harish Gupta and Khulla Manch by Manoj Raghuwanshi back in their original evening band at 10.30 pm.
Meanwhile, now that the elections are over, Sab Views is being shifted to the weekends.
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.
