News Broadcasting
Sony ogles MGM; what happens to Zee MGM?
MUMBAI: Moves are afoot in the US which could spoil the plot for Zee TV in India. Especially its Zee MGM channel. Movie studio MGM – more than 70 per cent owned by billionaire financier Kirk Kerkorian – is in talks with Sony Corp for a sell out.
Two other firms, Texas Pacific Group and Providence Equity Partners, are partnering Sony in a deal worth close to $ five billion. Each of the three is expected to bring in $1.5 billion, with the rest to be borrowed from the market.
The three are looking at buying out the entire company which had a market capitalisation of $4.1 billion before the news of the talks broke. It would require Kerkorian’s sanction.
Sony is lusting after MGM because of its assets which include the vast MGM movie library inclusive of the James Bond movies and the Pink Panther series.
Kerkorian and his investment firm Tracinda Corp have bought and sold MGM and its various parts several times over the past few decades. Kerkorian and Tracinda bought MGM in 1996 from an affiliate of French bank Credit Lyonnais after the studio suffered years of Losses. Chief executive Alex Yemenidjian engineered a turnaround and added to the library by acquiring other companies, reports say.
Last year, MGM lost the bid to buy Vivendi Universal Entertainment after offering around $11.5 billion for assets that included Universal Studios, reports say.
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.
