News Broadcasting
Zee confirms Vaishnava’s new responsibilities & other major changes
MUMBAI: Zee’s Purushottam Vaishnav, as flashed by Indiantelevision.com on Sunday (9 July), will be handling three additional channels, now being designated as editor for Zee Bihar – Jharkhand and will also be responsible for Orissa and West Bengal. Bhibhu Patnaik and Anirban Choudhary will be aligned to Purushottam Vaishnav, according to an organisational announcement.
After the above changes take effect, Uday Nirgudkar, Dileep Tiwari, Dinesh Sharma, Vaishnav, Anurag Bhatnagar, Kamal Dhingra, Manoj Jagayasi and Harjit Singh will be reporting into the vice president-chairman’s office till further orders.
Zee Media’s regional channel CEO, Jagdish Chandra has expressed his desire to lighten his load of his current responsibilities of all regional news network as well as DNA (all editions) considering the fact that he has been continuously travelling for 20-25 days a month which has been taking a huge toil on his health.
Considering the above, the management has therefore decided that going forward he will be handling responsibilities of following:
1. Zee Rajasthan
2. Zee Hindustan
3. Zee Salaam (Urdu)
4. DNA Jaipur Edition
In the meantime, till the changes are realigned he will continue to handle the current role and responsibilities for a fortnight.
In addition to the above three channels, he will also look after various business interest of group in Rajasthan mainly Zee Studio, Solar park, Cable and Broadband business as well as any other actions that may be required in Rajasthan. He will also continue to assist the Group in any area that may be entrusted to him outside Rajasthan. Chandra will continue to be on the board of ZMCL and DNA while stepping down as CEO of DNA. His designation will continue as CEO Regional News Network with above responsibilities.
It is further being clarified that following changes are being made in the roles and responsibilities of regional news network:
Nirgudkar in addition to his responsibility of Zee 24 Taas will also be responsible for Zee 24 Kalaak. Deepak Rajani will be reporting into Nirgudkar.
Tiwari, in addition to his current responsibility of Zee MP-CG, will also be responsible for the new upcoming channel Zee UP-UK.
Sharma, who is handling Zee PHH, will, in addition to editorial responsibility, also handle the sales for Zee PHH. The sales team for this territory will be aligned to Sharma.
Jagyasi and Singh from Zee Unimedia will continue to be responsible for the sales of other regional channels in addition to handling sales for channels being handled directly by Chandra.
Dwaiyapan Bose, editor in chief of DNA, will be reporting to Sudhir Choudhary while Bhatnagar and Dhingra will be in the interim responsible for sales and all other functions of DNA, respectively. The resident Editor of DNA Jaipur Edition will report into Chandra.
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.
