News Broadcasting
Trendz launches ‘Diabolical’ – ‘the edgier twist to fashion and lifestyle’
MUMBAI: Zee’s fashion channel trendz has launched its fashion and lifestyle show Diabolical. The show anchored by ex-Grasim Mr India Vivan Bathena will air every Thursday at 10:30 pm starting 22 July.
Diabolical will be a guide to the best hangouts in cities all over the country and will showcase food, fashion, décor, music, celeb clientele with a hope to capture the pulse of urban nightlife – and sometimes day life too.
Announcing the launch, trendz president Abhijit Saxena said, “With new program initiatives like Diabolical, trendz aims to build interactivity with its viewers creating a complete experience around concepts like ‘urban nightlife’. Trendz reaches out to the premium and contemporary audience, as the focus is to provide a dedicated platform for advertisers and clients whishing to communicate to homogenous mindset.”
Diabolical meaning evil signifies the dark side – to people, to life, to the day, the other side, to the rat race, competitive ambition, even middle class existence, for which the night, a time to lose inhibitions, to shed navy and don scarlet. The focus of each episode is on live experience, evaluation and optimum interactivity with the TA, said an official release.
In keeping with complete viewer relevance and combining wicked cool with interactivity, Diabolical will also be one link to trendz quotient (Tq), a contest giving viewers a chance toward win a cruise in Italy, added the release. Details of the contest would be disclosed in the upcoming episodes.
Produced by SOL for Zee, Diabolical is directed by Maheep Dhillon.
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.
