News Broadcasting
Sahara completes phase 1 of restructuring; Aditya is CEO
MUMBAI: Sahara One today officially announced the appointment of Shantonu Aditya as CEO of the company, while saying the restructuring of its media and entertainment business into three strategic units was complete.
The three arenas are the general entertainment television, motion pictures and movie channel businesses. Says restructuring initiative head Peter Isaac, “Aditya will head the initiatives that we enter in this business. Each unit will be an individual profit centre which will form a part of the larger corporate entity.” Aditya moves from SET Discovery where he was president of the company.
Plans are afoot to build the Sahara Film City soon. Sahara’s media and entertainment business was rebranded “Sahara One” last October with a new channel ID and promotions.
Speaking on his appointment, Aditya says: “I am delighted at the prospect of leading Sahara’s media & entertainment business. Having already become the market leader in Hindi Film content production with over six releases in the last eight months, Sahara One is poised to take giant strides in the near future.”
Adds Isaac: “We are pleased to have completed the first phase of the venture. The effort is moving ahead smoothly and business operations are being established within both time and cost targets.”
As already reported by indiantelevision.com, Sahara has now completed the first phase of restructuring the media and entertainment business into three strategic business units – “Sahara One” Entertainment Television, “Sahara One” Motion Pictures and “Sahara One” Filmy (the Hindi Film based entertainment channel). Plans are afoot to build the Sahara Film City soon for which detailed research has been completed and plans are being finalized.
Aditya’s core team is as follows: Purnendu Bose – COO “Sahara One” Television Channel; Sandeep Bhargava – COO, “Sahara One” Motion Pictures; Ashutosh – Business Head, “Sahara One” Filmy Channel; Avijit Mita – head programming, non-fiction & on-air programmes, “Sahara One” Entertainment Channel; Kumud Choudhary – head programming – fiction – “Sahara One” Entertainment Channel; Mukul Mishra – head on-air programmes, “Sahara One” Filmy Channel; and Soumen Ghosh Choudhary – head broadcast operations and engineering, “Sahara One” Entertainment Channel.
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.
