News Broadcasting
Star actively using Nine library
Nine's loss has been Star's gain. Star Plus will commence airing Sanjay Khan's Jannat, bought over as part of the Channel Nine library, from 8 December at 7 pm.
Kabhie Souten Kabhie Saheli and Kundali, two more serials from the Nine stables, have already started telecast on Star, and are reportedly doing well. indiantelevision.com had reported earlier this month that Star had paid only 20 per cent of the actual valuation of the library it bought after Doordarshan dumped Channel Nine Gold. The library is valued at around Rs 120 million.
Jannat, a daily soap that had a 37 episode run on DD Metro, follows the trials and travails of a Muslim family. The couple's desire to have a child is thwarted by the wife's inability to bear one. Predictable tussles follow after the man agrees to his wife's request to get married once again.
Kabhie Souten Kabhie Saheli which airs Monday to Friday at 3:30 pm, deals with two friends who are close despite their differing backgrounds. As the story progresses, both get married to the same man. Once the cat gets out of the bag, the two women scheme a revenge plot to get even. Kundali, another program from the Nine library, deals with a strikingly similar theme. The serial explores different events which shape the direction of our lives. Two sisters, married into the same household, suffer at the hands of a wrathful mother-in-law. The family quibbles come to the screen every Thursday at 8 pm.
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.
