News Broadcasting
Zee News presents Jinnah Vs. Jinnah
NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s founding father Mohd. Ali Jinnah is in news again in India. Zee News, a leading Hindi news channel, announced the telecast of India’s first ever documentary on Pakistan’s Independence Day- 14 August.
The 45-minute documentary, to be telecast at 8 pm, attempts to find some answers to the controversial historical personality and, in the process, raise some new questions. At the least, it promises to inform, said script-writer Anmol Saxena of News Watch Asia, the makers of the documentary.
Was Jinnah a secular at heart? This question recently created trouble for LK Advani, leader of India’s biggest Opposition party, the right-win Bharatiya Janata Party, who during a visit to Pakistan tried to put forward a more secular front by dubbing Jinnah a secular person.
Was Jinnah communal from the very beginning? Or, is it too simplistic to categories his life span into one ideology? Or is he mystified in one nation and ignored in another? These are some of the many questions that have been raised in the riveting documentary, which was screened for a select gathering yesterday in Delhi.
Zee Telefilms director newsgroup Laxmi N. Goel said ,”The documentary Jinnah versus Jinnah is another path breaking effort of Zee News to look at important events through the eyes of dispassionate observers.”
The film, rich in its footage from London and Karachi, has been produced by Zee News in collaboration with News Watch Asia comprsing some senior print medium jounalist like Raju Santhanam.
While Mohammad Ali Jinnah has been given the status of Quad e Azam in Pakistan, very little is known about him in India. With historians on both sides of the border caught in web of their own perspective, this film attempts to honesty place some facts as they exist, including the fact, as per admission by a Pakistani personality interviewed in the film, that in the beginning Jinnah’s speeches were secular — talking of Hindu-Muslim friendship— but over the years his quest for power made practise politics based on religion.
The film is anchored by renowned actor Irfan Khan, who not present during the screening, is said to have been overwhelmed after reading the script. According to him, “Jinnah is an intriguing and fascinating character. It was very interesting to know more about him and explain the politics of that time.”
Well-known advertising and theatre personality, Alyque Padamsee, who played the role of Jinnah in Richard Attenborough’s film Gandhi and has lent his, voice for Jinnah in this Zee film, said, “The film portrays the lesser known facts of Jinnah, which people in India would like to, know.”
The film interviews prominent historians of Pakistan like Ayesha Jalal, London-based sub- continent researcher Syed Hasan Khan, British historian David Page, besides Mushurral Hassan and Professor Bipin Chandra to name a few.
The film has also sourced letters from the archives to indicate that Jinnah and Winston Churchill were in secret correspondence as both were working towards a common cause of not to give the entire nation of India to the Congress.
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.
