News Broadcasting
SS Music to announce ‘Voice Hunt’ winners on 26 Sept.
MUMBAI: Close on the heels of its national rivals which had been ‘bombing’ the TV entertainment scenario with talent hunts, the South Indian music channel Southern Spice (SS) Music made big splash across all the major South Indian cities with its hunt for singers.
After the one-month long preliminary rounds held in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi and Coimbatore, The Fanta Voice Hunt will culminate on Sunday, 26 September with the channel announcing the final four winners.
The 24 candidates who had sailed through the earlier rounds have been participating in a 10-day long workshop in Chennai. Now the final four will be selected on the basis of voice, dance, fashion and personality.
The channel has roped in experts in the areas of music and fashion as jury members who will give the final verdict. They include prominent South Indian singer Sreenivaas, dancer John Brito, fashion expert Chaitanya Rao and music director Praveen Mani.
Talking to indiantelevision.com, SS Music president BD Ramesh Babu indicated that the channel would start telecasting the Voice Hunt show during the first half of October. The winners will do a pop album comprising eight tracks for Sony Music under music director Praveen Mani. The channel will create a video album for one of these songs.
According to Babu, the channel earmarked a production budget of Rs 6 million for the whole event. The main sponsor for the event is Fanta and the associate sponsors include Sandpiper, Lawman, Heads & Shoulders and Sony Music.
On the promotion front, the channel has been conducting on-air and off-air campaigns. It conducted an extensive outdoor campaign using hoardings in all the cities where road shows were conducted, as part of the preliminary round. The print medium has also been used to publicise Voice Hunt. Babu said the channel would kick off the second stage of the campaign ahead of the telecast of the show.
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.
