News Broadcasting
Dainik Bhaskar top newspaper in Jalandhar and Amritsar
MUMBAI: As per the IMRB readership report Dainik Bhaskar with a readership of 3.18 Lac is the largest read newspaper in Jallander and Amritsar. It has a lead of over 43% over Punjab Kesari which has 2.23 lac readers.
Dainik Bhaskar was launched in Punjab in September last year with a subscription of 1.76 lac copies and now has 2.1 lac copies. It has in this short period of time expanded the market and created new standards. Bhaskar has more young adults readers in the age group of 20-34 years and also the mature reader’s subset of 45+ where the habits and the choices are tougher to break. In case of graduates too Bhaskar has 95 thousand readers compared to just 67 thousand of Punjab Kesari.
Says Bhaskar Group DGM Peter Suresh, “Readership surveys are the benchmarks of the key deliverables of a newspaper. We decided to conduct a readership research – as IRS and NRS will have reported us at a far later stage. In this we have involved clients and agencies at every stage- providing opportunity for rider question, back-checks and validation. Some of the clients have added brand / category questions which has thrown some interesting brand ownerships insights – which help in further understand the market. Our readership profiles cover all spectrums of society.”
Says Bhaskar Group GM Punjab Dharmendra Atri,” The taste of success is always felt best by the team that has been on the ground. For us it’s a great feeling to see quantified the growth. A huge team conducted the door-to-door contacts covering the entire area in the meticulous way. It just proves that the success is gained inch by inch, all effort have to work synergistic and more so that the Bhaskar Research an integral part if the market launch strategy process has been tested time and again and have borne results. Yes it’s true that for every market with time- we have modified / adapted and remodeled the same- but essentially finding what the reader is really looking for and providing that to him- was- is and will remain the foundation for any newspaper’s success.”
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.
