News Broadcasting
US television portraying religion in a negative light: Study
MUMBAI: Television entertainment programmes in the US mention God more often than they did in the mid-1990s but tend to depict organised religion negatively
This information is contained in a study conducted by the Parents Television Council (PTC) and the National Religious Broadcasters. PTC claims to be America’s most influential advocacy organisation protecting children against sex, violence and profanity in entertainment
Faith in a Box: Entertainment Television and Religion found that television’s treatment of religion has become increasingly negative and doesn’t reflect the viewpoints of a majority of Americans. The study also found that US broadcaster NBC by far leads the other major networks in terms of the number of negative depictions of faith.
2,385 hours of primetime entertainment programming on the seven commercial broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Pax, UPN, WB) were analysed. They contained 2,344 treatments of religion. In the PTC’s last study on religion, done in 1997, the PTC found only 551 treatments of religion in 1,800 hours of programming.
NBC programming had 9.5 negative treatments for every positive treatment of faith. Fox followed with 2.4 negative depictions for each one that was positive. WB and ABC tied with 1.2 negative for each positive.
Negativity toward religion grew steadily with each passing hour of prime time. During the 7 pm hour, religious content was negative 16.9 per cent of the time. In the 8 pm hour, 20.8 per cent of instances were negative. In the 9 pm hour, 27.5 per cent of instances were negative, and in the 10 pm hour, 28.2 per cent were negative.
The treatment of religion in an institutional or doctrinal context (such as a reference to a church service, a particular denomination, or to Scripture) was strikingly negative. More than 32 per cent of TV’s treatments of religious institutions and doctrine were negative while only 11.7 percent of such treatments were positive.
Negative depictions of the clergy were more than twice as frequent as positive depictions – 36.2 per cent negative compared to 14.6 per cent positive. Representations of devout laity tended to be negative more than positive, but to a lesser degree than in the past – 33.3 per cent negative compared to 20.4 percent positive. In the 1997 study, only 7.9 per cent of the treatments were positive, whereas a staggering 78.9 per cent were negative.
Among the positive examples, the PTC cites a Jag episode where a character prays to God to say hello to her dead mother, and an American Dreams episode where an actor playing a medical student says a surgery is partially in God’s hands. In India Jag airs on Star World.
PTC president L. Brent Bozell said, ” Religion and the public expression of faith is a crucial element in the lives of most Americans. Our findings should challenge Hollywood to accurately reflect this in television content. I am not suggesting that all television programming ought to be about St. Teresa or even be all positive about religion. However Hollywood should keep in mind the overall picture it presents to viewers.”
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.
