News Broadcasting
Telly Awards Nominees’ Nite dazzles with stars
MUMBAI: They said it wouldn’t work. But we said we wouldn’t say so until we’d tried. The response to the Indian Telly Awards Nominee’s Nite held last night at the ITC Grand Maratha however outshot our wildest expectations by several miles.
Hosts Ali Asgar and Urvashi Dholakia
A novel initiative, the Nominees’ Nite was intended to converge and felicitate all those who are deserving of the prestigious Telly (to be given away on 19 and 21 November).
Now in its third year, the Indian Telly Awards, instituted by Indiantelevision.com, celebrate excellence in the television industry, both on screen and off screen, and are the most credible and sought after honours in their arena.
The jury at the function – (Lto R) – Prasoon Joshi, Kiran Juneja, Rathikant Basu, Rakesh Sharma and Lekh Tandon
While only one of the contenders in each category will finally lay claim to the statuesque statuette, each candidate had his hour in the sun at the Grand Maratha as esteemed industry veterans, who had comprised the jury for the awards, presented each nominee with a certificate that honours his excellence in his chosen field.
UTV”s Monisha Singh making her speech
Monisha Singh collects a certificate from jury member Kiran Joneja
The jam packed Ball Room 2 at the Grand Maratha (even standing room became a privilege when the party after the presentation reached a crescendo, proving without doubt that Indiantelevision has its finger firmly on the pulse of the television industry. Veteran producers like Prem Kishen
Malhotra of Cinevistaas rubbed shoulders with Star India senior VP, content and communciations Deepak Segal, MTV’s vice president, creative Cyrus Oshidar, CNBCTV18 executive director Vandana Malik….the list goes on.
Cinevistaas’ Prem Kishen Malhotra collects his certificate from Rathikant Basu
Shruti Ulfat, Divya Dutta and Raavee Gupta at the function
The glamour factor was out in full force with practically all the major luminaries on the small screen marking their presence – from Mohnish Behl, Niki Aneja, Shweta Salve, Deepshikha, Shivaji Satam, Sudha Chandran, Pallavi Joshi, Asawari Joshi, Yatin Karyekar, Hiten Tejwani, Nausheen Ali Sardar, Shweta Keswani, Mihir Mishra, Hussain, Maanav Gohil and Shweta Kawatra, veejay Kim, Aly Khan, Varun Vadola, Arjun Punj, Shakti Anand, Karishma Tanna, Gurdeep Kohli, Roopali Ganguly, there was nary a name that could not have been spotted at the venue.
The broadcasters were represented healthily by Sony’s Anupama Mandloi, Star’s Deepak Segal and Channel V head Amar Deb, among others.
Actor Kiran Karmarkar being presented his certificate by indiantelevision.com founder CEO Anil Wanvari
Jury members including the venerable producer director Lekh Tandon, the gorgeous Kiran Juneja, filmmaker Rakesh Sharma, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, Mc Cann Erickson national creative director Prasoon Joshi, Broadcast Worldwide chairman Rathikant Basu, Javed Sayed gamely came up on stage when called by emcees Ali Asgar and Urvashi Dholakia to give away the certificates.
Shweta Kawatra collecting her certificate from Rathikant Basu
Child artiste Tanvi Hegde gets her certificate from veteran producer director Lekh Tandon
The packed hall sat entranced through a presentation on the history of the Telly Awards and the acts that interspersed the presentation ceremony. As the evening wore on, several artistes, directors, technical heads and the creative types flowed in, eager to mingle with the chosen few and mark their presence at a function that so obviously belonged to the entire television fraternity.
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.
