News Broadcasting
Three senior Aaj Tak staffers quit; two to join DD
NEW DELHI: At a time when India’s No. 1 news channel, Aaj Tak, has breached the 40 per cent-mark channel share amongst news channels at prime time on weekends, it has once again become a victim of poaching.
This time the organisation on the prowl is India’s pubcaster Doordarshan.
Two of the three senior Aaj Tak staffers, who have quit, will be joining forces at DD with former colleague Deepak Chaurasia, who is the consulting editor at DD News.
The people who have left Aaj Tak for DD News are senior producer Sanjiv Paliwal and assignment in-charge Rajnish Ahuja. Sources in both Aaj Tak and Doordarshan confirmed the development.
The third person, Ajit Anjum, would be joining BAG Films, promoted by Anurradha Prasad and her Member of Parliament husband, Rajiv Shukla.
“We have also settled the accounts of the three and wish them luck in their new endeavour,” a senior executive of Aaj Tak told indiantelevision.com today.
Paliwal and Ahuja are slated to formally join DD News by the end of this month. While the former would join India’s pubcaster as output editor-cum-anchor, the latter would be the assignment editor.
This is not the first time that poachers have stalked Aaj Tak. Early this year, when NDTV’s content contract for Star News came to an end and Prannoy Roy decided to start his own channels in Hindi and English, he had lured away some big names from Aaj Tak like Dibang, Naghma, Sipta Deb and Poonya Prasoon Bajpai.
Meanwhile, TAM data for the week ended 1 November shows that Aaj Tak, which had shed some percentage of channel share, is regaining lost ground.
According to the data, the channel share at prime time (6-11 pm) for Aaj Tak on weekends is 43 per cent, while on weekdays, it is 38 per cent. If the overall weekend day is taken, then also Aaj Tak is leading with 39 per cent channel share (up from 36 per cent), followed by Star News (20 per cent), NDTV India (17 per cent) and Zee News (15 per cent).
The TAM data also shows that all days channel share of Aaj Tak is 37 per cent and is followed by Star News (21 per cent), Zee News (18 per cent) and NDTV India (17 per cent).
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.
