News Broadcasting
NBCUniversal News Group announces strategic collaboration and investment in NowThis News
NBCUniversal News Group announces strategic collaboration and investment in NowThis News
NEW YORK: The NBCUniversal News Group, one of the most influential and respected news portfolios in the world, and NowThis News, the first exclusively short-form video news network built specifically for mobile and social, have agreed that the News Group will take a minority stake in NowThis News and the two companies will co-produce original short-form news videos to be distributed across mobile and social platforms. Content will be produced by co-located NowThis News and NBCUniversal News Group teams based out of NowThis News’s New York City studio.
NowThis News is a news organization that specializes in creating unique, short-form video for audiences across social platforms that include, but aren’t limited to, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Vine, YouTube and Snapchat. Videos are combined into NowThis News’s Android and Apple apps and a mobile website, allowing viewers to seamlessly watch updates delivered to their pockets, wherever they are.
As more people consume news and information on mobile and social media, this collaboration will capitalize on the News Group’s world-class news operations and NowThis News’s approach to original, short-form storytelling to reach the next generation of users.
“We know that news consumption among younger audiences continues to grow, but in order to reach that audience, we need to continue to create video for the platforms they use most. NowThis News does exactly that — delivering relevant news stories for the mobile and social platforms that resonate with this audience,” said Patricia Fili-Krushel, Chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group. “We’re excited to incorporate this relationship into our overall strategy – to innovate inside and outside the company – positioning the News Group for future success.”
Kenneth Lerer, NowThis News’s Co-Founder and Manager Director of Lerer Ventures, said, “By working together, the NBCUniversal News Group and NowThis News can learn from each other and build a great digital news experience that’s a win-win for the new news consumer who wants all video, all the time, built for social and mobile. This partnership allows us to showcase our shared vision of combining the world’s strongest news brands with NowThis News to super serve consumers.”
NBCUniversal News Group and NowThis News will collaborate to create original, short-form videos that fit where the audience lives. The teams will co-produce content for TODAY, MSNBC, NBC News and CNBC such as:
Mashups: Covering daily political, pop culture, or business news
Explainers: Breaking down business, political or financial news
“Our partnership with NowThis News is another example of our commitment to emerging platforms so that our advertising partners can increase their audience reach,” said Linda Yaccarino, President, Advertising Sales, NBCUniversal. “With this collaboration we have the ability to innovate and harness the power of compelling video and create campaigns that resonate more strongly with consumers.”
The partnership represents the latest in a series of moves that the NBCUniversal News Group, whose digital assets include NBCNews.com, msnbc.com, TODAY.com, and CNBC.com has made in the digital space. Together these assets reach more than 70M unique users. Recently, the News Group also announced an investment and content partnership with Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg’s new venture, Revere Digital, launched a new msnbc.com, created new original video units for NBC News and CNBC and acquired live stream video platform, Stringwire.
NBCUniversal News Group
The NBCUniversal News Group is one of the most influential and respected portfolios of on-air and digital news properties in the world, reaching over 147 million people each month.
The Group includes NBC News, a broadcast leader of global news and information for over 75 years and home to such respected programs as “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” “Today,” “Meet the Press,” and “Dateline;” MSNBC, the premiere destination for in-depth analysis of daily headlines, insightful political commentary and informed perspectives reaching more than 96 million households worldwide; CNBC, the recognized world leader in business news reaching approximately 395 million homes worldwide as well as The Weather Channel and digital platforms including the NBC News Digital Group, msnbc.com, CNBC.com. The NBCUniversal News Group also extends on its nationwide network of owned and affiliate stations, NBC News and CNBC Radio; as well as MSNBC on Sirius XM radio.
NowThis News
NowThis News is a Lerer Ventures startup and portfolio company that has produced over 10,000 original 6, 15, and 30 second news videos for rapidly growing social and mobile audiences. The company was founded by Huffington Post co-founder and former Chairman Kenneth Lerer, and former Huffington Post CEO Eric Hippeau. From studios in New York, Washington DC, NowThis News produces over 50 daily video updates for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Vine, YouTube, All of the NowThis News platforms can be found here: http://www.nowthisnews.com/whatsup
Lerer Ventures
Lerer Ventures is a New York-based, seed stage venture capital fund led by Managing Directors Kenneth Lerer, Eric Hippeau, Ben Lerer and Jordan Cooper. LV invests in founders in the earliest stages of a startup’s life, seeking out entrepreneurs with product vision, consumer insight, focused execution and unwavering ambition. Its portfolio includes Buzzfeed, Warby Parker, Thrillist, Percolate, Fullscreen, Food52, Songza, RebelMouse and Refinery29.
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.
