News Broadcasting
Walk the Budget Tightrope with CNBC-TV 18
MUMBAI: CNBC-TV 18 has a special feast for it audience on Budget 2004. The latest launch- Tightrope 2004 – is a 300 hours of programming on Budget 2004.
The programme is divided in two phases. Phase I will be a run up to the Union Budget 2004 and the second will analyse the Budget.
As part of its buildup towards the Union Budget 2004, CNBC-TV18 will host six pre-budget round tables held across the country.
The roundtable on taxation was held in Mumbai on 25 June 2004. The discussion was based on ‘How will the government use tax to fill its coffers’. The Mumbai roundtable will be televised on CNBC TV 18 next week. An in-depth analysis on the issues related to the raising of standard deduction in personal taxation, double taxation treaty, service tax and VAT were discussed at the roundtable, says a company release.
Present at the tax roundtable in Mumbai were Ernst & Young chairman Jairaj Purandare, Bharat S Raut & Co partner Bharat Raut, tax consultant H P Ranina, Crawford & Bailey senior partner Dadi Engineer, PriceWaterhouseCoopers ED Prashant Deshpande and Ambit Finance director Dinesh Kanabar.
According to the release, more than 125 CEOs, numerous Indian and international experts will be part of this year’s programming line up for Budget 2004 on CNBC-TV18.
Says Television-18 ltd CEO Haresh Chawla, CEO, “A series of pre budget events and programming as well as the most comprehensive budget day and post budget coverage has been created under the Tightrope 2004 umbrella for CNBC TV18’s budget foray.”
The Tightrope 2004 aims to bring out the various conflicting issues that the FM will need to address. The Mumbai roundtable had opinion leaders and taxation specialists speaking about the budget implications on tax both – direct and indirect tax.
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.
