News Broadcasting
Star’s Kumud Chowdhary joins SaharaOne as programming head
MUMBAI: Post the restructuring of Sahara’s media and entertainment business under a joint venture management company with Percept, the company saw a couple of high profile exits. One of them was Sahara Media and Entertainment vice president, programming Triptii Sharma in November last year. SaharaOne has found her replacement as programming head in Star India’s commissioning editor Kumud Chowdhary, who is slated to join office on 11 January.
Chowdhary, who was with Star for a period of two years, will be reporting to SaharaOne Television COO Karuna Samtani. Speaking to indiantelevision.com about the new development, Chowdhary says, “It was a great offer and there is nothing to lose here. One can do what one wants in terms of experimenting with different kinds of programming. My agenda here will be first find my focus and then work on it.”
Confirming Chowdhary’s appointment, Samtani, on the other hand says, “There are very few good professionals in this business and we were looking for someone who would gel in with our personality and our business goals. The Percept and Sahara Groups have found a great person in Kumud.”
The change from Sahara Manoranjan to SaharaOne last year has been more than just a name change as far as the channel is concerned. The look and feel of SaharaOne has slowly but surely seen a great deal of improvement in the last few months. And in this competitive market, where there are many players including Star’s new baby Star One, Samtani is looking at putting together a strong core team to take competition head on.
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.
