News Broadcasting
ZEE bags ‘Gold’ at the Titan Business Awards
Mumbai: ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), has bagged the ‘Gold’ award under the ‘Best Rewards and Recognition Strategy’ category at the 2022 edition of the prestigious Titan Business Awards. The company’s tech led initiatives ZEELOMPICS and Cheers4Peers have been adjudged as one of the best employee recognition frameworks.
Titan Business Awards holds a legacy of honouring far reaching efforts of entrepreneurs and organisations around the world, whose contributions are far beyond the norm, on the global stage of innovation and ingenuity. Correspondingly, the award recognises remarkable entrepreneurs, SMEs, leading organisations and all relatable parties in distinctive fields, from private to public, for profit to non profit, extending to all available business industries.
Talking about the award victory, Zee Studios and Zee Music HR head ( revenue) and Zeel central HR head Amit Sharma said, “We are thrilled to have received the Titan Business Awards, recognising our industry first employee recognition initiatives. Through these programmes, we have been successful in pioneering the digital transformation in India’s media and entertainment industry. This award is a testament to the organisation’s consistent efforts to identify and inspire consistent employee performances, by recognizing achievers in each role. Following a digital first approach, the tech-led platforms aim to reward the workforce’s unwavering passion to excel, which will enable us in charting the company’s next phase of growth.”
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.
