News Broadcasting
Sahara One Television changes logo, on-air identity
MUMBAI: They’ve done it yet again! Sahara One Television has once again changed its on-air channel identity and logo.
In order to reflect the dreams and aspirations of the new age Indian woman, the channel will don a new logo from 28 March. Inspired from the blooms of a lotus, the colours and form speak for themselves.
Sahara One Television’s prime time programming revolves around contemporary Indian women minus the saas-bahu sagas in shows like Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki, Haare Kaanch Ki Choodiyan and Kituu Sabb Jantii Hai.
The channel had last changed its logo in October 2004.
Sahara One Television’s various phases of transition
Sahara One Television’s new logo retains the company’s distinctive saffron and green stripes next to the company name Sahara.
The Singapore based Bruce Dunlop Associates has designed the new on-air look for the channel, with Bollywood music director Shantanu Moitra designing the sound for the new packaging.
“The new logo is designed by Yellow Frog a design outfit of Percept H, part of Percept Holdings Company and gives Sahara One Television the crucial singular visual identity along with colour palettes that give continuity and a never-ending promise. Though the new logo is soft in appeal, it has an inner strength that is exuded via the bloom and the colours. It is interesting to notice that the form that is created for O is inspired from a lotus petal,” said Sahara One Television COO Purnendu Bose.
Speaking on the reason behind changing the logo, Bose said, “The old logo with the diamonds around it was too restrictive and was not flexible. It wasn’t a reflection of the true Indian woman and we wanted a logo that reflected our target audience.”
The channel has also launched an advertising campaing with the protagonists of its prime time shows. The taglines of these campanigs are — ‘Pati Parmeshwar ka time khatam’ and ‘Kit-pit saas ka time khatam.’
“The campaing hits the current stereotype saas-bahu sagas head-on, which have been running on Indian television for the last two years. It reflects our programming strategy that focuses on women of today,” added Bose.
What’s more… since the channel’s key focus audience are women, it has launched a contest exclusively targeted at women viewers called ‘Naya Rang-Cricketers Ke Sang.’
The contest began on 27 March and will run till 8 April. Under the contest one question will be asked between 8 – 10 pm everyday. The viewers have to send their replies by SMS to 9090 or call 1904-424-9090 by 12 noon next day to leave their answers.
The winners stand a chance to win a fully paid trip for the for the last five matches One-Day Internationals to be held from 3 – 15 April with Indian cricketers on a chartered plane.
The winners of Naya Rang-Cricketers Ke Sang contest will be announced on the channel six days prior each match. The winners not only gets to travel, dine and wine with these cricketers but shall also have the privilege to watch the match in exclusive seats.
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.
