News Broadcasting
Times Now garners 699 TVT and leads English news genre in Week 10: Barc data
Mumbai: Times Now was leading in ratings amongst English news channels last week (5-11 March), according to data released by Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India.
The assembly elections for the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa concluded last week with the results being declared on 10 March.
Times Now had a 30 per cent share of TVTs (number of target households in thousands where an ‘event’ was on average across minutes) and garnered a total of 699 TVTs.
The Barc data was for all Indian cities with a population of one million and more & a target audience between the 15–60 age group.
“The last two years have been extremely tough, with the pandemic transforming the world,” said Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand.
“People’s lives changed dramatically, altering consumer behaviour across all categories, be it food, fashion, holidays, entertainment or news consumption. The news space saw an added disruption with alleged malpractices unearthed in the rating system impacting viewers’ sentiment,” Anand added.
He said, “All in all, there was trepidation when approaching the date, as to how news consumption has changed and how that would impact our shares. We are happy to note that our efforts to keep up with changing consumer preferences have been reciprocated by viewers. Times Now has seen a marked increase in reach and time spent. The gross ratings have increased by 20 per cent, vis-a-vis our performance in 2020 when the ratings were suspended.”
He added, “With renewed consumer appetite for news, the comparative ratings have been shaken up with Times Now shining as the true leader. Our reach has increased across the Universal TG of 2+, which is an indicator of good health. Besides this, we are stronger in primetime than before and are also showing a marked preference by the reigning TG of 15-60 years.”
“Besides this, Hindi is an important space that we are watching and TY9 Bharatvarsh is the new leader. Two of the top three Hindi news channels being non-legacy players is an indicator that the Hindi news viewer wants to change. Our attention is now going to be on putting Times Now Navbharat into the top set asap.”
In the English news genre, Times Now was followed closely by Republic TV which garnered 633 TVT and a share of 27 per cent. India Today Television was next at 14 per cent share of TVTs followed by CNN News18 at 13 per cent. The share of the remaining channels including WION, BBC World News, Mirror Now and India Ahead were in single digits.
Barc has released individual channel ratings in the news genre for the first time after a data dark period of 17 months. The TV audience measurement agency has also announced that it will release 13 weeks past data. All data will be released weekly on a four-week average rolling basis.
Source: Barc | Wk 10’22 | All India 1 mn+ | 15-60 Yrs
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.
