News Broadcasting
SERVICE TAX
he multiple levels and multi-point Service Tax imposed on the Entertainment Industry is making survival difficult for the small content producers.
Presently, the Entertainment Industry is paying Service Tax at many different levels and points, such that they end up paying Service Tax on Service Tax on Service tax. The levy is draconian and is making survival difficult for the content producers, who being the weakest link, bear the whole of the burden. The scenario is briefly described as under: –
The subscribers of Cable TV pay Service-tax which is collected and deposited by the Cable Operator.
The advertisers pay service tax to the ad-agencies on all ads booked by them.
The ad-agencies pay service tax on all advertisements aired, which the TV Channels collect and deposit.
The TV Channels are supposed to pay Service Tax to the Content Producers which the Content Producers are supposed to collect and deposit. As of now, none of the Channels, including Doordarshan, is paying this tax and so the Content Producers, even though they do not collect, deposit from their own resources as per law.
The Content producers hire equipment and buy utility services such as Telephone, Electricity, Insurance etc., on which they pay service tax which the equipment owners and utilities companies collect and deposit.
(A graphical representation is attached
Thus, the multi-point and multi-level Service tax levied on the Entertainment Industry is becoming such a burden that Channels, because they are at a bargaining end, refuse to bear and pay (and there is no law empowering the producers to recover the same from the channels) so it is borne by the Producers, and the producers have to pay to the Utilities and Equipment Suppliers as they are not in a position to refuse. Producers, end up paying service tax on their purchases as well as sales.
Doordarshan refuses to pay Service Tax on content that it purchases, although the law says they should pay; but collects Service tax from advertisers on telecast fees charges by it per force. Double faced policy.
The channels refuse to bear, not because they want to cheat, but because they too are forced to bear the Service Tax that the advertising agencies are refusing to pay. The ad-agencies are refusing to pay because they are already paying the tax on one side of their transaction.
The unfairness of the law lies in the fact that most of the players in the Entertainment Industry have to pay Service Tax on their costs as well as their revenues. This is against the concept of fair taxation.
We request that this chain of multi-point taxation be broken by exempting the Producers from Service Tax. The ad-agencies are already collecting and paying the Service Tax on all ads aired on the Channels, and the Cable Operators are also doing the same. Further, the Channels are paying Service Tax on all ads aired by them once again. The last leg of the chain, the Equipment Suppliers and Utilities are also collecting and paying service tax. Exempting the producers will give a great life-line to the Industry by breaking the Chain.
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.
