News Broadcasting
Sesame Workshop to set up NGO in India
NEW DELHI: In order to develop strategies and partnerships that ensure Galli Galli Sim Sim – an alliance between Turner India and Sesame Workshop – delivers, Sesame Workshop will be forming a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in New Delhi.
In addition, the Workshop has named Sashwati Banerjee to become Executive director of the NGO once it is established, while Shari Rosenfeld, vice-president, developing and emerging markets, Sesame Workshop, will oversee it.
Galli Galli Sim Sim’s mission is to educate and engage pre-school children throughout India and is a joint effort of Workshop and Time Warner company Turner India, which has contributed corporate social responsibility funds toward the establishment of the NGO.
The India office will drive Galli Galli Sim Sim’s outreach projects and manage its network of collaborative partnerships with other NGOs, funding partners, consumers, government agencies, educational institutions, broadcasters, and production team members.
“Sashwati, with over 15 years of experience in creative and management positions is deeply committed to children’s and women’s rights issues,” said Rosenfeld in a statement today.
“We are thrilled that she will be joining our team to lend her expertise in raising the profile of Galli Galli Sim Sim, an initiative aimed at promoting joyful learning of basic life skills for India’s young children and celebrating the diversity that is a part of their every day lives,” she added.
Galli Galli Sim Sim is a broad-based, multi-platform educational Initiative for young Indian children. A television show of the same name will debut later this year (the date being bandied around is 15 August) on India’s leading kids’ channels, Cartoon Network and Pogo.
The outreach campaign will extend the educational impact of the show by reaching out particularly to underprivileged children and the adults who care for them, through materials and programs in various media.
Congratulating Banerjee on her appointment, Soumitra Saha, senior VP, regional advertising sales and marketing, Turner Entertainment Networks Asia and project director, Sesame India, said, “With her Experience and well-honed skill set in the niche segment of social sector, Sashwati Banerjee is well-positioned to spearhead and successfully extend the long term educational objectives of Galli Galli Sim Sim to reach millions of young kids through the specially designed outreach campaign.”
Most recently, Banerjee was the programme director and communications Advisor with Abt Associates, for the private sector partnership One Project, funded globally by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Prior to this position, Banerjee worked with the leading communications agency Ogilvy & Mather, where she was instrumental in setting up their healthcare division. In her capacity as the Business Manager, she designed and led successful campaigns for her clients in the pharmaceutical
industry.
Sesame Workshop is a US-based nonprofit educational organization making a meaningful difference in the lives of children around the world. Founded in 1968, the Workshop changed television forever with the legendary Sesame Street.
Today, the Workshop continues to innovate on behalf of children in 120 countries, using its proprietary research methodology to ensure its programs and products are engaging and enriching. Sesame Workshop is behind award-winning programs like Dragon Tales, Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat, Pinky Dinky Doo and groundbreaking multimedia productions in South Africa, Egypt and Russia.
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.
