News Broadcasting
Times defers biz channel to next year
NEW DELHI: Their business channel can wait till next year. The Times of India Group is more interested in an entertainment channel to be followed by a spiritual one this year, both of which would carry a nominal subscription fee.
Pointing out that the plans for a business channel have been deferred for the next year, Bennett, Coleman and Co (Ltd) MD Vineet Jain told indiantelevision.com today, “The entertainment channel should be on air by November, followed by the spiritual.”
The channel launch sequence set out by Jain only confirms a report indiantelevision.com had carried in the beginning of April about Times TV’s plans .
Jain added that since the two channels would be digital, decoder boxes would have to be distributed. “There would also be a nominal price charged for the channels,” he said, hinting that both the channels may be clubbed together and sold for distribution purposes.
While the entertainment channel will be called Zoom, names for the spiritual and business channels haven’t seen finalised. Both the proposed channels would be beamed off the PAS-10 satellite.
Without specifying the format of Zoom, the channel to be launched in the last quarter of 2004, Jain said that it would be a general entertainment channel in ‘Hinglish’ (a combination of Hindi and English) as ‘the primary target audience would be in the metros’.
He is confident about a market for this type of an entertainment channel.
Jain clarified, “Even the ad sales team of ours is not aware of the content and format yet.”
Meanwhile, he also confirmed that Arnab Goswami, formerly of NDTV 24×7, has joined the Times’ TV venture as head of programming for the business channel. The group is also looking for Goswami’s counterparts for Zoom and the spiritual channel.
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.
