News Broadcasting
Zee Cafe gets into action mode with ‘Without A Trace’
MUMBAI: In a bid to add spice to its lineup English general entertainment channel Zee Cafe will kick off the action show Without A Trace from 15 October at 9 pm.
This is a procedural drama about the New York Missing Persons Squad of the FBI. The sole responsibility of the special task force is to find missing persons, by applying advanced psychological profiling techniques to peel back the layers of the victims’ lives and trace their whereabouts in an effort to discover whether they have been abducted, been murdered, committed suicide or simply run away.
The show has been produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. The team reconstructs a ‘day of disappearance’ timeline that details every minute of the 24 hours prior to the disappearance and digs into every facet of the victim’s life, following one simple rule: learn who the victim is in order to learn where the victim is.
Senior agent Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia), a tough but compassionate, seasoned and astute professional, heads the dedicated team that knows too well that every second counts when someone vanishes. His squad includes Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery), an agent whose blonde good looks belie a tough, complex approach to her work; Vivian Johnson (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a no-nonsense investigator with a special insight into victims’ families; Danny Taylor (Enrique Murciano), whose sensitivity is often covered up by his street smarts, and the strait-laced Martin Fitzgerald (Eric Close), who joined the team as a result of his father’s connections but
has since earned his stripes.
The team’s newest member is street-smart F.B.I. rookie Elena Delgado (Rosalyn Sanchez), formerly of the N.Y.P.D. vice unit. As the agents work on varied and complicated cases, details about their own lives continue to unfold.
In addition as a Diwali special the channel will air an Abba concert on 21 October at 4 pm. One of its local shows After Hours celebrates one year with a one hour special on 15 October at 7:30 pm. It will be repeated the following Monday at 3 pm, Wednesday at 10:30 am, Saturday at 10:30 pm and on Sunday at noon.
The channel will also air the classic mini series The Thornbirds from 10 October from Tuesday-Saturday at 2 pm. This mini series covers 60 years in the lives of the Cleary family, brought from New Zealand to Australia to run their aunt Mary Carson’s ranch. The story centers on their daughter, Meggie, and her love for the family’s priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart. Meggie tries to forget Ralph by marrying dashing stockman Luke O’Neill, but she and Ralph are soon reunited, with tragic consequences for them both.
This romantic drama has won four Golden Globes (four nominations) and six Emmies (10 nominations).
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.
