News Broadcasting
Zee Music set to sing different tune
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Having revamped itself earlier with not much success, Zee Music, thus far Zee’s sickly baby, is having another go at being recognized as the numero uno. And, this time with a gusto.
The programming has been revamped, a marketing and advertising blitz planned, and the turntable is ready to play the music of success. So much so that the channel has also lined up for the first time, it claims so, a truly live music show, the duration of which would be ramped up in the coming months.
Zee Music head programming & brand Niyati Shah chilling out
” We are all set to launch a true and live interactive music show that would be the first of its kind as others (read MTV and Channel V) only show recorded shows,” Niyati Shah, the programming and brand head of Zee Music, told indiantelevision.com in Delhi on Thursday on the sidelines of a rocking party held here to announce the new-look Zee Music.
Zee Music feels that this would be the Viagra that would propel it to the No. 1 slot because despite an infusion of vitamins by way of a revamp in late August last year, the channel had refused to gain much weight in the music channel genre, recording a very slight growth and patchy ratings.
By end-February, a Noida studio, on the outskirts of Delhi, will start beaming live music shows, getting popular artistes like Shaan and Sonu Nigam into the studios and playing songs on request from viewers, making it the first music channel in India to do live shows. (All other phone in shows on channels like MTV and [V] are pre-recorded; even though they are made to appear as live shows.)
Niyati Shah with Zee Music Veejays
Even new veejays have been lined up for a channel that has witnessed some distribution problems. The new kids who join the gang at Zee Music include Roob, Parimal, and Manish from Delhi and Vishal, Karan and Adita from Mumbai. The new shows to hit the air include Please toh play (the one-hour live show in the evening), Signs, Item Bomb and Imported.
According to Shah, though a major portion of the airtime would be taken up by the Hindi film music and Indipop, about 10 per cent would comprise of international music. “Our effort would be to ramp up the live shows to at least three-four hours a day soon,” she adds.
The end-February splash will have a lavish promotional blitz spun around it, signs of which are already apparent in some media. Hoarding proclaiming that Zee Music is the ‘Sound of Music’ would start appearing in cities, but a bigger splash across media is expected.
For a change, Zee seems to be a bit serious about the music channel. According to Shah, close to Rs. 10.5 million would be spent on the media blitz for a month, which would cover outdoors, the electronic medium and the radio.
Moreover, since Zee Music is positioning itself as the total music channel, in contrast to competition that is either a “youth channel or an imitation”, Shah feels that an aggressive strategy is bound to spell success. ” At the moment, we have about 15 brands on the channel and in an year’s time we should be able to have all the major ones, including those belonging to Hindustan Levers (the biggest media spender),” she adds.
Niyati Shah in the Party
Shah points bout that Zee Music has an advantage over other music channels because of the vast library of films that it can draw upon and feels that in an year’s time the channel would be not only making music, but also revenue. Other music channels, points out Shah, have to depend on promos, unlike Zee Music that can play full songs too.
According to industry estimates, MTV corners 25 per cent of the market share in the music channel genre, while Channel V and Zee Music have been fighting for the second place with share ranging between 20-22 per cent.
Considering Zee channels have shown promise, but failed to deliver the desired results, it remains to be seen whether the second revamp of Zee Music — fighting a now-improving distribution set up and penetration — be the real; song of love and revenue.
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.
