News Broadcasting
Social Media is Important to Majority of Indians: Ipsos Study
MUMBAI: Majority (58 per cent) of Indians say social media is important to them; compared to 42 per cent globally, according to a new poll of online respondents conducted by Ipsos OTX – the global innovation center for Ipsos, the world’s third largest market and opinion research firm.
“As Mahatma Gandhi rightly said – ‘action expresses priorities’, social media is well on its way to being a priority as majority of Indians who have access to the internet claim social media is important in their lives,” said Ipsos India head of marketing communication Biswarup Banerjee.
“With proliferation of mobile internet in India, social media has become a part of everyone’s life, it influences people’s daily life and how they interact with each other. Social media has now become a mainstream way of communicating – for individuals as well as businesses,” added Banerjee.
The big social media story is told in the demographics, especially age. Age appears to be the strongest demographic driver of placing importance on social media in India. Indeed, a big majority (62 per cent) of those under the age of 35 rate social media as important vs. 58 per cent for those aged 35-49 and 44 per cent for those aged 50-64. Women (64 per cent) seem more likely than men (54 per cent) to rate it highly.
The countries with the highest proportions those indicating social media is important to them are from: Turkey (64 per cent), Brazil (63 per cent), Indonesia (62 per cent), China (61 per cent), Saudi Arabia (59 per cent), India (58 per cent), Mexico (54 per cent) and South Africa (52 per cent). This group of social media lovers is followed by Argentina (45 per cent), Russia (44 per cent), Spain (42 per cent), Poland (37 per cent), Hungary (36 per cent), Sweden (35 per cent), Germany (33 per cent), Great Britain (33 per cent) and the United States (32 per cent). The lower group includes: Australia (30 per cent), Italy (30 per cent), Belgium (29 per cent), Canada (28 per cent), South Korea (28 per cent), Japan (24 per cent) and France (17 per cent).
Ipsos conducted this study among 18,002 people in 24 countries in the month of July.
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.
