News Broadcasting
Zee News to invest $5 mn in UP news channel
MUMBAI: Zee News Limited (ZNL) will invest $5 million in its news channel for Uttar Pradesh, a market where only Sahara operates.
Zee 24 Ghante plans to launch by the end of the fiscal. “We are investing $5 million in the channel. We aim to break even in 18-24 months as the marketplace has just Sahara which makes around $4 million,” a senior executive in the company said.
ZNL expects to suffer a loss of Rs 700 million from new businesses during the fiscal. For the first half of the year, the company has already incurred losses of Rs 280 million. While the newly-launched Tamil general entertainment channel, Zee Tamizh, booked a loss of Rs 50 million in the quarter, this is expected to go up in the subsequent quarters as the investments climb.
“We are in talks with SCV, Sun Group’s cable TV company, for carriage of our channel. The distribution costs would go up as we aggressively push the channel,” the source added.
Zee Telugu, the Telugu GEC, has broken even and plans are afoot to launch Telugu news channel Zee 24 Ghantalu in November. ZNL is also looking at innovative strategic investments to further expand the business in regional markets.
Marathi movie channel Zee Talkies, which has been transferred from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd to ZNL from 1 August, is close to break even. “We are not revising our loss guidance from new businesses despite adding a few new channels during the fiscal,” the source said.
Zee News posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 114.7 million for the quarter ended 30 September 2008, up 104.4 per cent from Rs 56.1 million in the previous year. Revenue jumped 60 per cent to stand at Rs 1.27 billion as compared to Rs 798.1 million in the prior year.
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.
