News Broadcasting
TV now switches in as baby-sitter: Kaiser study
MUMBAI: The electronic media is a central focus of many young children’s lives, used by parents to help manage busy schedules, keep the peace and facilitate family routines such as eating, relaxing, and falling asleep.
In short, television has now stepped in as a baby-sitter according to the findings of a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Many parents also express satisfaction with the educational benefits of TV and how it can teach positive behaviours.
According to the study, in a typical day more than eight in 10 (83 per cent) children under the age of six use screen media, with those children averaging about two hours a day. Media use increases with age, from 61 per cent of babies one year or younger who watch screen media in a typical day (for an average of 1:20) to 90 per cent of four to six year-olds (for an average of 2:03).
The report, “The Media Family: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Their Parents,” is based on a survey of 1,051 parents with children age six months to six years old and a series of focus groups across the country.
In many homes, parents have created an environment where the TV is a nearly constant presence, from the living room to the dining room and the bedroom. One in three (33 per cent) children this age has a TV in their bedroom (19 per cent of children ages one year or younger, 29 per cent of children ages two-three years, and 43 per cent of those ages four-six years).
The most common reasons parents give for putting a TV in their child’s bedroom is to free up other TVs in the house so the parent or other family members can watch their own shows (55 per cent), to keep the child occupied so the parent can do things around the house (39 per cent), to help the child fall asleep (30 per cent), and as a reward for good behaviour (26 per cent).
As one mother who participated in a focus group in Irvine, CA said, “Media makes life easier. We’re all happier. He isn’t throwing tantrums. I can get some work done.”
A third (32 per cent) of children this age live in homes where the television is on all (13 per cent) or most (19 per cent) of the time and a similar proportion (30 per cent) live in homes where the TV is on during meals all (16 per cent) or most (14 per cent) of the time.
As a focus group mother from Columbus, OH explained, “The TV is on all the time. We have five TVs. At least three of those are usually on — her bedroom, the living room and my bedroom.”
Children whose parents have established these heavy TV environments spend more time watching than other children: for example, those who live in households where the TV is on all or most of the time spend an average of 25 minutes more per day watching TV (1:16 vs. 0:51), and those with a TV in their bedroom spend an average of 30 minutes more per day watching (1:19 vs. 0:49).
“Parents have a tough job, and they rely on TV in particular to help make their lives more manageable. Parents use media to help them keep their kids occupied, calm them down, avoid family squabbles and teach their kids the things parents are afraid they don’t have time to teach themselves,” said Kaiser vice president and director program for the study of entertainment media and health Vicky Rideout.
At a time when there is great debate on the merits of educational media for children, many parents are enthusiastic about its use. For example, two-thirds of parents (66 per cent) say their child imitates positive behavior from TV, such as sharing or helping. A large majority of parents (69 per cent) say computers mostly help children’s learning and a plurality (38 per cent) say the same about watching TV (vs. 31 per cent who say TV “mostly hurts” and 22 per cent who say it doesn’t have much affect either way).
The study found that how parents feel about TV’s benefits is related to how much time children spend watching. Children whose parents say TV mostly helps learning spend an average of 27 minutes more per day watching than children whose parents think TV mostly hurts.
In focus groups, parents noted many specific benefits of TV viewing for their children, such as spurring imaginative play, teaching letters and words and learning a foreign language. One mother noted, “Out of the blue one day my son counted to five in Spanish. I knew immediately that he got that from Dora.”
Another mom said, “My daughter knows her letters from Sesame Street. I haven’t had to work with her on them at all.”
Since a similar survey in 2003, there have been increases in the share of children in households with at least one computer (from 73 per cent to 78 per cent), with internet access (from 63 per cent to 69 per cent), and with high-speed internet access (from 20 per cent to 42 per cent).
There was a small but statistically significant decrease in the per cent of children living in households where the television is kept on always or most of the time, from 37 per cent in 2003 to 32 per cent in 2005, and of children living in households where the television is on during meals always or most of the time, from 35 per cent in 2003 to 30 per cent in 2005.
The study also found that among children who do each activity in a typical day, children are spending an average of 17 minutes less per day listening to music and 10 minutes less per day watching TV.
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.
