News Broadcasting
Will the weekend viewer bite Zee telefilm bait?
MUMBAI: It may have slipped from the top 100 in the ratings stakes yet again, but the Original Movies, scheduled to start on Zee from this Saturday, is yet another programming innovation designed to lure in the recalcitrant viewer
the new slot win over viewers’ hearts? Production houses, including Tony & Deeya Singh’s DJ’s Creative Unit and Manjul Sinha’s company have been roped in to make full length feature films for Zee for the initial run. Zee TV president Apurva Purohit says the channel decided to zero in on the Saturday night 8 pm slot after in house research showed that there was a viewer demand for original content on weekend nights. The potent mix of passion and crime has been used as the thread which binds the original movies together in the Kambakht Ishq slot.
Purohit says the once- a-month films have been shot in the feature film format with similar big scale music, lighting and camera work. The channel has however planned only for a television release for the films and there are no plans for a theatre release for the movies in the near future.
Spun out of a ‘reasonable’ budget, Purohit expects the strategy to click, as the channel’s restructuring of ‘weekday programming’ has been a success with audiences. The Singhs’ first offering, Chura Ke Dil Mera, is also their first foray into feature film making. Makers of Banegi Apni Baat, Just Mohabbat and Dil Se Dosti for Zee, the Singhs say they decided on the feature film format as they had decided to do something very unusual and different, because almost every genre of programming has been done on television.
While most channels, wary of venturing into fresh programming prior to the World Cup, have still gone ahead and announced new daily serials, Zee too is likely to launch a couple of new year long dailies. Purohit however is loath to divulge details at this stage.
Chura Ke Dil Mera is a story of a journalist, played by Ram Kapoor and a famous socialite(Divya Datta) who is the bahu of a business family. They meet at a function and the journalist who had never had a relationship before develops an obsession for her. But as the obsession grows and the relationship gets passionate, strange and unexpected things start happening, leading to a totally unexpected climax. It deals with perfectly normal characters in a realistic milieu but things go awry and there is no point of return.”
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.
