News Broadcasting
Star World examines the psychology of ‘Criminal Minds’ next month
MUMBAI: From 3 September 2006 English general entertainment channel Star World will air the show Criminal Minds on Sundays at noon and 10 pm, Mondays at 1 pm and on Saturdays at 5 pm.
Best described as a psychological suspense thriller, with lots of deductive action, Criminal Minds follows an elite squad of profilers who analyse the country’s most twisted serial criminal minds, anticipating their next move before they strike again.
The show stars Mandy Patinkin Chicago Hope as head of the Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, the series also features Thomas Gibson as a disarming family man, Matthew Gray Gubler as a socially-retarded genius, Shemar Moore as an expert on obsession crimes and Lola Galudini as an agent specialising in sexual offenses, who was herself assaulted years ago.
In the first episode, when a fourth woman goes missing in Seattle during the course of four months, the team is brought in to profile her captor and find him before he strikes again. Gideon, who has taken a six month leave of absence since running lead on a case in Boston that ended in a disaster, is asked to help crack the case. While the team works to hunt down the serial killer, Hotch is asked to discreetly evaluate whether or not Gideon is really ready to return to full-time duty.
In the second episode the team investigates a series of fires set on a college campus. Since most of the evidence from the fires has been burned beyond recognition, Gideon and his team must rely on psychological analysis to identify the firestarter. Utilising their knowledge of serial arsonists, they set up a general profile. When the fires start, claiming the lives of several victims, the search heats up, forcing them to look beyond the textbook profile to catch the killer.
The channel will also air the second season of Enterprise from 9 September every Saturday at 10 pm. The science fiction show is set in the 22nd century, nearly 100 years before the events shown in the television show Star Trek. Enterprise takes place during the early pioneering days of deep space exploration, when interstellar travel is in its infancy and the United Federation of Planets is still decades away.
Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) is the prototype for Starfleet captains to come; he’s bold, intensely curious, and eager to venture where no man has gone before. Unlike the seasoned, sometimes unflappable officers of the 24th century, the crew of Enterprise exhibits a sense of wonder and excitement, as well as a little trepidation about the strange things they’ll encounter. With their star charts mostly empty, they’ll have to prove they’re ready for life among the stars.
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.
