News Broadcasting
Stage set for 3rd News and Television Awards and Summit
MUMBAI: The news television industry is gearing up for the most prestigious Indian News Television (NT) Awards.
Currently in the third year, the awards are conducted by Indiantelevision Dot Com to recognise and honour news channels and professionals in the country.
This is for the first time that the NT Awards have been judged by the peer group, that is senior members of the news industry as well as eminent personalities are among the judges.
According to Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief Anil Wanvari, “After consulting the industry, we have decided to implement peer judging this year as there is no better way than to be judged by the industry itself. And we are delighted by the response of the news television industry towards the 3rd edition of the NT Awards and Summit. We look forward to taking this from strength to strength with the involvement and support of the industry. Our aim is to establish the NT Awards as the recognition and encouragement of excellence in the news television industry.”
In all 700 entries were received for 26 categories. The awards will be announced at a glittering ceremony on 25 March at Hotel Ashoka in New Delhi from 7.30 pm onwards.
The NT Awards will be preceded by the Third Indian News Television Summit, which will be held at the same venue earlier in the day on the theme of “Wake Up Call for the TV News Business”. The summit is endorsed by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
The panellists include Ashok Venkatramani (Star News), Barun Das (Zee News), G Krishnan (TV Today), Jyoti Narain (P7 News), LV Krishnan (TAM), Narayan Rao (NDTV), Shazi Zaman (Star News), QW Naqvi (Aaj Tak), Barkha Dutt (NDTV), Nalin Mehta (Author), Rajdeep Sardesai (CNN IBN), Sanjeev Srivastava (Sahara), NVN Murthy (TV9), Shailesh Reddy (Zee 24 Ghantalu), Rani Reddy (Saakshi TV), and Ramachandra Murthy (HMTV).
The panel discussions will see participation from a host of practitioners from the news television fraternity. The three sessions are on ‘Reality dawns in the News Business’; The Telugu News Titans’; and ‘Content Story’.
The NT Awards will have categories that will cover programming and personality awards. The NT Awards will be presented to channel programmers, anchors, presenters, technicians, producers, editors, reporters and management.
Ernst and Young is the auditors for the awards, while the jury meetings were organised in Mumbai, Hyderabad and New Delhi.
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.
