News Broadcasting
Sahara builds up primetime fare around ‘Har Mod Par’
MUMBAI: Take a successful show and build programming around it. That is the strategy that Sahara TV appears to be adopting. The show in this case is Har Mod Par, which has made a mark for itself in the 8:00 pm slot. Har Mod Par works as the lead-in for Sahara’s new family soap that launched yesterday in the 8:30 pm plot – Virasat.
With Virasat, it makes four new shows that Sahara has launched in the span of three months between 7 and 9:30 pm, all dailies or at least tri-weeklies.
Chacha Chaudhary aimed at kids followed by Shubh Mangal Savadhan a sitcom,then the established Har Mod Par followed by the just launched Virasat, after which comes Parchaiyan – a suspense drama – at 9:00 pm tries to tighten the grip, the aim it seems is to provide the viewers with a wholesome package.
“Along with some new weeklies, the introduction of a fresh bunch of dailies was aimed at satisfying the audience’s need for dailies that have an edge as far as building viewership around a specific time slot is concerned,” says Priya Raj, V-P publicity & promotions, Sahara TV, explaining the thinking behind the new launches.
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.
