News Broadcasting
‘Taken’ draws lukewarm response for Star Movies
MUMBAI: At least eight million viewers in South East Asia and Taiwan followed Steven Spielberg’s epic saga Taken on Star Movies. In India, however, the show has singularly failed to capture the imagination of the viewer thus far.
TAM data for the six metros SEC AB 4+ for the first two episodes which aired on 12 and 19 October at 9 pm, paint a gloomy picture. The series drew a TVR of just 0.13 and 0.22. The only good news is that slightly more people watched the second episode. So there is still hope for the broadcaster that the science fiction themed show will pick up as it goes along.
It would appear as though a Star Movies multimedia campaign which worked so well for the Academy Awards and for the Made In iIndia band which aired in the same time slot as Taken has failed for once. There were hoardings in the days leading up to the premiere. Some of the most innovative and invigorating television spots on the channel involved Taken. They had given the impression that the only thing one could expect was the unexpected.
Making things worse is the fact that HBO which repeated Top Gun and Universal Soldier The Return for the umpteenth time got higher ratings of 0.19 and 0.35 respectively.
As mentioned earlier, the story for the rest of Asia was very different. Peoplemeter viewing data indicates that the first TV series ever shown on Star Movies, registered two million viewers in Mega Manila. In Taiwan, over 5.5 million people were willingly abducted by the series and over one million Taiwanese fans were tuning in each week.
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.
