News Broadcasting
STV Enterprises to launch Haryana news channel on 14 July
MUMBAI: With action hotting up on the news channels front, what with India TV unleashing a string of sting operations relating to sex offenses and the casting couch in the entertainment industry and elsewhere, Delhi-based STV Enterprises Ltd has decided to take the plunge into the news channel fray. STV is all set to launch a news channel dedicated to the north Indian state of Haryana.
STV Enterprises Ltd promoter JK Jain confirmed the development and said, “The 24-hour news channel catering to Harayana state is slated to launch on 14 July, which is likely to be followed by some other ones too in the
future.”
STV Enterprises already runs the low-cost, but revenue generating Punjab Today and Punjabi music channel Balle Balle.
Pointing out the company is still “toying” with a name for the proposed news channel, Jain said some of titles being considered are Haryana News or Haryana Today.
The Haryana-specific news channel, which will primarily be a Hindi language channel, was earlier introduced as a half-hour bulletin on Punjab Today where the fine-tuning of news flow was done. Later, it was expanded to a four-hour bulletin on the channel.
According to Jain, “We decided to convert Haryana specific news into a full fledged channel after receiving positive response form viewers.”
Justifying starting region-specific channels, Jain said his products will attract both local and national advertisers. At present, Punjab Today has brands like Ambhuja Cement, Godrej, Samsung and Coca-Cola advertising
heavily in an effort to target rural markets.
Sanjay Dwivedi, a person with a TV background having worked in places like the now defunct BiTV and the expanding Sahara, will be the chief executive officer and editor for the Haryana-specific news channel, while Jain will retain his post as the editor-in-chief.
The proposed digital free-to-air channel would beam through Thaicom-3 satellite as its other siblings. Jain pointed out that though the company uplinks its other channels to Thaicom via VSNL from India, an application for a
teleport licence has been made, which will make the uplinking procedure less cumbersome and easier.
Also in the pipeline from the STV stable are channels for the Kashmir and Delhi regions, Jain says.
The Haryana channel, besides being dedicated to hard-core news, will also broadcast culture, lifestyle and humour-based programmes, apart from agriculture-related shows that would be aimed at benefiting farmers of the region.
At present, the north Indian region has quite a few region specific news channels. These include the newly launched Total TV and a proposed product from the Sahara stable going under the project name of D1.
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.
