News Broadcasting
UTV makes three new appointments
MUMBAI: Moving to fill the vacancies made by some recent exits, Ronnie Screwvala’s UTV has appointed Venugopal Chandrashekar as director channel management, Tina Kapoor (ex-Hungama) as creative director and Pervez Quadir as creative consultant.
Chandrashekar, who joins UTV on 16 August; has a job role that includes servicing channels, ideating closely with the creative team and strategizing on retaining eyeballs on programming content. He will primarily be looking after a top line general entertainment channel as well as south based channels. The details of the channels have not been divulged.
Chandrashekar had his last day yesterday at Contract Advertising where he was account direct. Calling himself a Contract veteran, Chandrashekar has had extensive experience in servicing in the last 12 years. In Contract, Chandrashekar worked on international and national accounts like Asian paints, Baja Auto, Philips lighting, Heinz, Shoppers stop, ICICI BANK, BPCL and Allianze Bajaj, to name a few.
Queried by indiantelevision.com as to what value addition he is going to bring UTV, Chandrashekar states, “In the advertising arena, one has a very structured and insightful methodology that one works by. Production houses, still are not so researched and scientific in their approach, hence this will be primarily where I will be contributing and adding value to UTV.”
Why UTV? Chadrashekar elucidates, “The television industry is exploding and I have always been very passionate about entertainment, movies and music. Secondly, UTV have their plans in place and are also a very ambitious production house, and nothing like being with a company that you can connect to in terms of the same goals.”
Interestingly, Tina Kapoor who was with Hungama for the last five months as creative director and who incidentally put in her papers a few weeks ago, is now joining UTV as creative director starting 26 July. Kapoor will primarily be managing new shows. Kapoor will have four shows under her charge to begin with — two fiction shows for Star India’s soon to be launched “upend” channel Star One, a lifestyle show for Times Television and a fiction show for Sony Entertainment.
Talking about her entry into UTV, Kapoor voices, “It’s going to be a lot of fun considering the big plans UTV has in the offing. I have always worked with a channel before (earlier stints with B4U and MTV) and this is my first time with a production house. I see a very bright future here.”
Another development is the appointment of Pervez Quadir as creative consultant. Quadir, who has made a name for himself in Indipop and is well known in the entertainment industry, has already begun work as a creative distrupter (one who analyses paradigm shifts as well as spots emerging trends in television).
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.
