News Broadcasting
Zee Tele in re-organisational mode
NEW DELHI: The Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms is on a re-organisational mode, which the company dubs, is a move aimed at job enrichment and offering higher responsibilities. There are several changes in portfolios of senior executives, including a replacement for Zee TV president Apurva Purohit and additional responsibilities for Yogesh Radhakrishnan.
To start off with, Sunil Khanna, at present CEO of Zee Turner, would shift to Zee TV as its president, taking over from Purohit, who would leave Zee to try out new things.
Sunil Khanna
Khanna has been with the Zee Network for 10 years, occupying various positions, and has an enviable track record in distribution and marketing. Khanna, a engineering graduate from IIT Kharagpur and management graduate the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore , is a marketing professional having worked in various marketing positions before joining Zee.
Ashwini Yardi, presently business head for Zee MGM and Zee English, will assist Khanna as head of programming for Zee TV.
Khanna is expected to take over formally at Zee TV in Mumbai after Purohits service period ends on 31 January.
Dheeraj Kapuria, at present heading operations of Zee in the USA, will take over as CEO of Zee Turner from Khanna. Zee Turner Pvt. Ltd. is a distribution a 74:26 joint venture between Zee Telefilms and Turner International India, a Time Warner company.
Kapurias deputy in the US, S. Venkatasubramanian, will take over from him. In order to integrate in a better fashion the global distribution operations, Sunil Rohra, head of the UK operations and Pushpinder Singh, head of the Africa operations, will report in to Kapuria, along with the US operations.
According to Zee Telefilms CMD Subhash Chandra, This re-organisation is a result of our learning from an in depth internal communications exercise in which I met most of the managers within the network to assess the width of in-house talent. It was truly satisfying to reaffirm that we have an extremely talented pool of people in-house. I believe by enriching their portfolios, they will lead Zee Network into the New Year with greater vigour and effect.
Coming back to the changes in the offing at Zee Telefilms, Sudhir Mishra, a renowned Bollywood writer and director, has been retained as a Creative Resource. Together with the other measures outlined above, this critical addition would greatly strengthen the in-house programming team of Zee TV, the company has said.
The ambit of responsibilities of the following senior management personnel has been expanded.
Abhijit Saxena, presently handling international business (Asia Pacific) and syndication of programming, will handle Zee English, Zee MGM, Trendz, Smile TV and FX Channel as business head.
The last two are channels mentioned above are on the ASC Enterprise and Zee-promoted Dish TV direct-to-home (DTH) platform. But it is expected that these two channels, along with some new ones like Zee Classic movie channel, are to be made part of the cable service for CAS-enabled consumers, starting off with South Delhi.
Yogesh Radhakrishnan
Yogesh Radhakrishnan, in addition to his present portfolio of Zee Cinema and Zee Music, will also handle Premier Cinema, Action Cinema and Classic Cinema, all newly launched channels.
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.
