News Broadcasting
Specifications for Indian STBs elaborated upon at SCaT
MUMBAI: One of the sessions at the ScaT workshop in Mumbai dealt with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Specifications for Set Top boxes. Col V C Khare, a member of the BIS Committee for Set Top boxes dealt with the issue.
” In the context of the CAS amendment Act, a set top box is required to decrypt content from the pay channels while also delivering the FTA content which is to be bypassed through its circuits.”
The committee, Khare said, had to set standards for set top boxes. “We faced many challenges. One was that no country has formulated any standard for the set top box. CATV service delivery networks in India are apathetic towards hardware selection, deployment, conformity and service quality. Also, encryption is neither standardised nor uniform. The device had to be user friendly as well as responsive to SMS. We also had to ensure that the standards did not favour a particular manufacturer or technique. Also, the input level threshold had to be determined to decide on output levels to drive the television receiver of the viewer.”
The requirements for an Indian STB include:
1. Input signal levels to correspond to accepted levels for TV receivers i.e. 60dBpV for analogue and 47dBuv.
2. Carrier to noise 44 dB is minimum
3. Rception by STB to conform to IS 13420 for downstream and IS 14231 for upstream.
4. Manufacturer/ service provider has to specify CAS
5. In view of uni-directionality of CATV networks there must be a provision for SMART cards.
6. There must be total flexibility of any SMS which could communicate encryption logic to decryption circuit of STB
7. Connectors have to match networks and viewers TV receivers in India.
8. It must be able to operate in areas suffering from low voltage like Bihar and the North East.
9. A built in device must exist which can detect a pirated pay TV signal
He concluded by saying, “Indian standards for set top boxes are neutral, interface specific between cable drop and TV, futuristic since advanced versions would also comply. The standards are also user and manufacturer friendly. For me, the acronym of standards is statutory, tangible, accuracy, non-controversial, discreet, authenticated, recognised, documented and symbolic.”
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.
