News Broadcasting
Second phase of FM radio soon
NEW DELHI: The much-awaited second phase of radio FM expansion is likely to be kicked off soon with the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry set to outline the roadmap on Monday, a day when the high-powered committee on FM radio is slated to submit its recommendations to the government.
According to government sources here, I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is slated to make some announcements regarding the second phase of FM radio on Monday (17 November).
Incidentally, from 17 December a four-day regional conference on digital radio too begins in Delhi under the aegis of Asia-pacific broadcasting Union and All India Radio (AIR).
Meanwhile, the FM radio panel, set up under the chairmanship of Ficci secretary-general Amit Mitra, was scheduled to submit its report on 31 October. It is likely to make some radical recommendations on FM radio broadcast policy, including throwing open the sector to foreign investment.
However, Mitra could not be contacted today as he is reportedly away to Russia.
Still, sources in the FM radio task force indicated that some of the recommendations would touch on areas that had been troubling the industry. Issues like migration of the existing private FM players to a revenue sharing model from a license fee regime are likely to addressed. The revenue share is likely to be in the range between 3-4 per cent.
The task force may also recommend that foreign investment , at par with norms in the print and the electronic media (up to 26 per cent), be allowed in the FM radio sector too. At present, only foreign financial institutions
are allowed to make portfolio investments in FM ventures as per the Reserve of Bank of India norms.
The task force is also likely to make a pitch for allowing news and current affairs programming on private FM channels up and running in several cities of India, including Mumbai, Lucknow and Delhi.
at present, private FM players are only allowed to broadcast weather and stock reports, while only AIR has the sole prerogative of dishing out news and current affairs programming on its FM radio channels.
Other issues to be touched upon by the Mitra panel, and likely to be implemented during the second phase of FM radio, include matters like doing away with the clause on co-location of all FM radio transmitters in the city if there is more than one operator and a suggestion to remove a ban on content sharing by more than one private radio station, if operated by the same company.
However, recommendations alone are not likely to solve the woes of the financially beleaguered private FM sector as the government has to accept the recommendations and work towards implementing them. If some major changes
are to be made in the present policy, like foreign investments, then the issue has to be ratified by the Union cabinet too.
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.
