News Broadcasting
Viacom acquires DreamWorks: report
MUMBAI: Viacom has acquired Hollywood studio DreamWorks SKG for $1.6 billion, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
Viacom and its studio division, Paramount Pictures, signed the acquisition deal on Friday, 9 December at a meeting attended by DreamWorks founders Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg Geffen, Viacom chief executive officer Tom Freston and Paramount chairman Brad Grey, the report said quoting executives involved in the negotiations.
More than 50 per cent of the money will come from private-equity investors, the executives have been quoted as saying in the report. The price includes the assumption of about $400 million in DreamWorks’ debt.
The report further adds that DreamWorks discontinued its acquisition talk with NBC-Universal unit of General Electric as the latter’s offer failed to match Viacom’s price.
By acquiring DreamWorks, Paramount gets the right to distribute domestically and internationally movies made by the company’s animation division DreamWorks Animation. Apart from getting hold of DreamWorks’ 60-movie library, Paramount can now capitalise on DreamWorks’ lucrative and expanding computer animation business, the report points out.
By clinching the deal, Viacom has also delivered a body blow to Universal. The company had been making huge profits by distributing DVD and video for DreamWorks live-action and animated films, both domestically and internationally.
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.
