News Broadcasting
Star News spot on with exit poll predictions
MUMBAI: While the general Lok Sabha elections exit polls proved disastrous for all news channels, the Maharastra assembly elections have seen a definite improvement on the prediction front for most news channels. Star News however, can take the most credit for being close to spot on with the results.
After being rapped earlier in the year for misreading the voters’ mood during the Lok Sabha polls, most seem to have got their act together. Star News on 13 October predicted at the end of balloting that the ruling Congress-National Congress Party (NCP) alliance would get 142 seats and the Sena-BJP alliance would bag 122 seats in the 288-seat assembly. Competitor channels on the other hand in an attempt to cover their base predicted an upper and lower limit range. Zee News was the only other news channel, apart from Star stuck its neck out and gave a straight number (Congress-NCP 125 versus Sena-BJP’s 115).
The Maharashtra assembly results out on Saturday showed the ruling alliance won 140 seats with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine lagging behind with 118 seats and others and independents with 30.
Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Star News’ CEO Uday Shanker gushes, “We took some corrective measures after the last Lok Sabha elections in consent with our research agency AC Neilson. One, is that we enhanced our sample size as well as covered many more constituencies which accounted for more than 1/3rd of the entire constituencies. Secondly, we also took some statistically corrective measures in an attempt to weed out the divergent trends.”
Interestingly, news channels got a lot of flak during the Lok Sabha elections as politicians made a huge hue and cry about exit polls being grossly off track and misguiding the general sentiment of the people. Shankar adds, “This is not only good news for us but also for the entire broadcast news fraternity as it re-establishes the value of psephological predictions from a news channel’s point of view.”
Exit Poll Predictions released on 13 October:
News channel
Congress-NCP
BJP-Shiv Sena
BSP & others
Star News
142
122
24
Headlines Today
140 -50
100-110
30-40
Zee News
125
115
48
NDTV
125-135
120-130
30-45
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.
