News Broadcasting
Seventh News Television Awards gets a full house
NEW DELHI: The bright shining chandeliers that towered over the audience could not match the delight on the faces of the winners as they cheered for their team mates and channels at the seventh edition of indiantelevision.com’s News Television Awards. The gala evening held at The Lalit in New Delhi saw the who’s who of the News TV fraternity and the best of them took away the coveted trophy.
Awards being presented by noted personalities that included Communication advisor to the prime minister Pankaj Pachauri, national commission for minorities chairperson Wajahat Habibullah, fashion designer Ritu Kumar, former cricketer Ajay Jadeja, actor Parvin Dabbas, Padma Shri dancers Raja Reddy and Radha Reddy, Dabur chairman VC Burman, politician Subramanian Swamy, former Comptroller & Auditor General of India Vinod Rai, NDTV head honcho KVL Narayan Rao, cricketer Surinder Khanna, among many others.
Some of the big take aways for the gala night were NDTV 24X7 editor Barkha Dutt and NDTV India editor Ravish Kumar for best TV news anchors in English and Hindi respectively, Bloomberg TV editor Vivek Law as best business news anchor in English and CNN-IBN’s Suhasini Haidar as best TV news presenter in English.
Shows that won accolades included CNN-IBN’s India at 9 for best daily news bulletin in English and Dastak by Aaj Tak for the same in Hindi. CNBC TV 18’s India Business Hour was given the award of best business news programme in English while NDTV 24X7’s We the People won for best talk show in English.
Not to forget were the awards given away in the two regional categories as well- Telugu and Marathi. K Nagendar Sai from CVR news won best business news anchor in Telugu while K Padmini from TV9 was awarded for best entertainment news anchor in Telugu. Alka Dhupkar from IBN-Lokmat was recognized as the best TV news anchor in Marathi. V6 news from Andhra Pradesh won best channel packaging of the year and Zee 24 Taas’ show Rokhthok- Shradhecha Bhandwalachi Mujori won for best news debate in Marathi.
Apart from this, for the first time, recognitions were given to the ‘game changers’ of 2013 by indiantelevision.com group founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, that included NDTV, Zee Media Corporation, Network 18 and India TV.
The evening saw around 500 guests – consisting of professionals from the TV news ecosystem – attend and cheer for the winners as they took away galores of prizes.
The ceremony was possible thanks to partners such as Jia News, News Nation, Akamai Technologies, India News, News X, Sakshi TV, TV9, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC TV18.
Click here for the complete list of winners
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.
