News Broadcasting
Teacher files defamation against channel for fake sting
NEW DELHI: Even as a Delhi Metropolitan Court granted bail to Live India reporter Prakash Singh and co-accused Virender Arora, Delhi school teacher Uma Khurana who was made the victim of a fake sting two months earlier filed a criminal defamation case against the television channel.
The sting operation aired on 30 August showed the teacher running an alleged prostitution and resulted in widespread violence in the Darya Ganj in central Delhi where the school where she was teaching is located.
In her criminal defamation case before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Jindal against the channel, its CEO Sudhir Chaudhary and accused reporter Prakash Singh, the teacher has said she had been removed from service and subjected to different kinds of mental agony, strain, harassment, humiliation and earned a bad name in the eyes of the public and society.
Earlier, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alok Agarwal granted bail to the reporter and businessman Arora.
Forty-one year old Khurana had been discharged by Aggarwal earlier this week and fixed 15 November for argument on charges against the other three accused — TV reporters Prakash Singh and Rashmi Singh, and Arora. The police have charged the trio for criminal conspiracy for using forged electronic record.
A week after the telecast, it was discovered that the operation was a hoax and the girl ‘victim’ shown in the TV sting was, in fact, TV journalist Rashmi Singh. Khurana was granted bail on 11 September.
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.
