News Broadcasting
Vatican drama has viewers hooked to TV news stations
MUMBAI: The death of Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI seems to have done wonders on the ratings front for television.
During the seven days following the Pope’s death, according to Nielsen Media Research, CNN saw its daytime ratings jump about 40 per cent vis-à-vis March 2005, while MSNBC’s viewership was up by about 30 per cent.
Coming to the new Pope’s induction, although official ratings are not yet out, agency reports stated that news channel heads were very upbeat about the viewing news numbers.
News channel executives are also very disheartened that the selection of the new Pope was completed so quickly.
There is no doubt that for news organisations, the benefit of a big news story like this is often more ethereal than financial considering advertisers buy commercial time much in advance.
But stories like this one, gives news units a chance to showcase competitive advantage and add to their image equity.
News channels as a practice spend millions to prepare for events like these in advance. For instance, NBC News had their infrastructure near the Vatican in place for years, in case something happened to the Pope in a sudden turn of events.
Stories like these don’t come often and news broadcaster are expected to cover cover stories like these intensively and hence there is a cost associated with that.
Apart for broadcasters benefiting, news websites reportedly also received considerable surge of hits when Pope Benedict was announced. Streaming videos of the coverage was also in demand and an estimated 100,000 streams was delivered.
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.
