News Broadcasting
Sameer Nair elevated to Star India COO
The man who is widely regarded as the creative brain behind the rise of Star Plus to its pre-eminent position in India’s channel stakes – Sameer Nair, executive V-P, head of content & communication, Star India – has just had a whole lot more added to his plate. Effective today, Nair is the chief operating officer (COO) of the Rupert Murdoch-promoted numero uno Indian cable and satellite TV network.
One immediate change that Nair’s promotion makes in the executive scheme of things is that Tarun Katial, V-P, programming Star Plus, Star Movies and Star World, will be devoting all his energies now to Star Plus. The new COO revealed that the next two months would be see some additional reorganisation.
Nair joined Star in 1994 in charge of Star Movies. Thereafter he moved on to lead movie acquisitions and headed the on-air promotion and presentation department. In 1999, Nair took over as the programming head of Star Plus and soon became the executive vice-president, programming for the whole network.
While Nair shares with Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea the credit for the phenomenal success of Kaun Banega Crorepati and making Star Plus the No 1 channel, the responsibility of getting Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan to host KBC was entirely his.
Born and brought up in Mumbai, Nair started his career with UDI Yellow Pages in Mumbai where he spent two years. He then moved on to spend another four years at Goldwire, an advertising agency in Chennai. Nair also worked as an independent ad filmmaker in Chennai for a year and a half.
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.
