News Broadcasting
Contract Advertising appoints Ashish Chakravarty as its National Creative Director
MUMBAI :Contract advertising today announced the appointment of Ashish Chakravarty as its National Creative Director.
A highly awarded advertising creative professional with over 20 years of experience, Ashish is known for
creating some of the biggest brands in the country.
In his role as NCD, he will be directly responsible for all creative output for Contract across all its verticals, which include mainstream advertising, iContract, Designsutra and Core Consulting. He will work closely with the senior creative team which includes Juju Basu, Kapil Mishra, Amod Dani, Kaushik Roy, Azazul Haque and Raymond Patel (Rayo) to provide the best solutions for Contract's clients, brands, and team.
Ashish joins from McCann Worldgroup, Delhi where he was the Creative Chief. As part of his role, he has led the team to many successes across the brands he's worked on and several award winning pitches and campaigns. He has grown McCann, Delhi to the 3rd biggest single agency office in South Asia and amongst the top 2 awarded agencies in Delhi.
"I am delighted to have Ashish join Contract as NCD, India. He is one of the most awarded and sought after creative professionals in the country. His experience of working with the best brands across agencies and his line-up of award winning work will bring in a huge value add to Contract and its clients. I welcome him back to Contract and look forward to him partnering me and Rohit Srivastava, Chief Strategy Officer, and the senior management team to deliver on our creative vision", says Rana Barua, Chief Operating Officer, Contract Advertising.
Before joining McCann, Ashish was with Contract where he was part of the team that won Contract its first Silver Pencil; and made it the top internationally awarded agency in Delhi. He has also worked with Euro RSCG, TBWA and JWT, from where he started his career.
"Contract has always had an iconic creative leadership, and I am conscious of the very large shoes, that I am stepping into. So naturally, I am excited with this opportunity to lead and shape the creative product of the agency from here on. I believe that when people with diverse talents and skills engage meaningfully and intensely, they create the truly unexpected and wonderful. Having worked with both Rana, and Rohit in the past, I am confident that we are on our way to make Contract a very exciting place for creatives, and clients alike", said Ashish Chakravarty.
In the course of his career, Ashish has worked with some of leading brands in the country which include, Nescafe, Dabur, Coca Cola, Unicef, SAIL, ONGC, NIIT, Domino's, JK Tyre, Fortis, Mastercard, IREO and Nestle to name a few. He is credited with winning close to 150 national and international awards across categories and brands; and served as jury at Spikes, Adfest, CLIO and Goafest.
He will succeed Ravi Deshpande who has left recently to pursue his own endeavours.
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.
