News Broadcasting
Saban Entertainment Group brings a Virtual Studio product to Mipcom
MUMBAI: Saban Entertainment Group (SEG) has launched a new venture dedicated to incubating, developing and marketing family entertainment properties.
The new virtual studio will unveil its first project, Hollywood Star Dogs, at the upcoming television trade event Mipcom in Cannes, France. The event takes place from 9-13 October 2006
Led by Haim Saban and Saban Capital Group chief creative officer, Joel Andryc, the new venture will leverage the executives’ access to world-class financial and creative resources, including industry-leading producers, writers, artists, production houses and grass roots marketers, to create a virtual studio that employs targeted freelance teams for every project.
The new venture will focus on identifying and creating intellectual properties and brands capable of being distributed across numerous multi-media platforms and connecting with audiences across a variety of entertainment genres, with a particular focus on new media.
Haim Saban said, “I am thrilled to return to my roots and focus on developing media properties for children and families. The SEG team’s extensive background in children’s entertainment gives us unique expertise in recognizing breakthrough creative content. We will bring together specialized freelance talent to help develop, brand and promote each project. This strategy will enable us to create a best-in-class studio that is custom tailored for the needs of each individual project.”
Andryc said, “In today’s new media environment, we plan to capitalize on cutting-edge interactive technologies to engage the youth market. Our audience will discover and experience unique characters and story content through the media outlet they prefer; be it broadcast, cable, VOD, broadband/internet, direct-to-home-video, videogames or mobile devices.”
For their first virtual studio project, SEG has partnered with Holly Goldberg Sloan. Hollywood Star Dogs features a troupe of live-action talking dogs portraying classic fairy tales.
Andryc ads, “We were instantly drawn to Hollywood Star Dogs because of the property’s innovative take on classic literature. With its unique use of live animals and advanced CGI animation to tell timeless tales and other stories, it is a high quality, distinctive property that lends itself to number of distribution outlets. It has been a pleasure to work with Holly. She is a great creative talent and together we are confident that we can build Hollywood Star Dogs into a successful entertainment franchise and an enduring evergreen brand.”
As part of its new virtual studio, SEG has also entered into a development deal with Tiny Island Animation, a Singapore-based animation studio led by David Kwok, a veteran leader in the Singapore animation industry. SEG will provide development resources to Tiny Island Animation, which focuses on producing computer-generated entertainment for international television audiences. A comedic CGI animated series is already currently in development and is expected to make its debut in 2007.
SEG’s virtual studio, which will focus on developing a limited number of projects at any given time, is currently in the advanced stages of negotiation and/or development of several other properties, which will be announced shortly.
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.
