News Broadcasting
Sahara Samay National, Uttar Pradesh to launch on 28 March
MUMBAI: The stage is set for the launch of Sahara Samay. Starting 28 March, ‘Sahara Samay National’ Hindi news channel and ‘Sahara Samay Uttar Pradesh’, the city-centric satellite news channel, will broadcast their fare seven days a week – 24 hours a day.
Sahara India Pariwar’s broadcasting arm had announced its ambitious plans to launch a slew of of television news channels some time ago. Sporting the new true blue patriotic logo’s on the screen, the test run of the first two Sahara Samay news channels to be launched has been on air for the last two weeks.
While ace television personality Vinod Dua, who had been associated with Sahara TV since its inception, is an advisor to the whole project, other important cogs in the team include Sahara Samay National news channel head Arup Ghosh; Sahara Samay city-centric regional news channels for UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan head Prabhat Dabral; Delhi & NCR channels head Shireen; and Mumbai channel (covering Maharashtra & Gujarat) head Rajiv Bajaj.
An official release says that the besides the rest of the news channels in the bouquet, Sahara’s media initiatives also include television, print and satellite radio channels.
While the Sahara Samay National will cover the news nationwide, Sahara Samay Uttar Pradesh – a city-centric regional news channel will cover news from six cities namely Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Agra, Gorakhpur and Dehradun. Meanwhile, Sahara’s media and entertainment head Sumit Roy announced: “Other city-centric channels will be launched in the next four months to cover all 31 cities as planned.”
All Sahara news channels are free-to-air digital satellite channels. The release claims that the news channels employ advanced automated electronic news production and state-of- the-art transmission technology.
According to the release, the Sahara Samay news channels will offer in-depth news coverage from far and wide with a team of over 1000 journalists using 50 main news bureaus which will be further connected with the 1600 V-SAT centers for news gathering across the country. In addition to a fleet of 18 OB Vans, DSNG vans and fly-aways to offer quick on-the-spot live coverage, the channels have also employed a round-the-clock helicopter team round-the-clock for special aerial coverage.
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.
