News Broadcasting
TO THE NEW in association with IBN LIVE launches ‘Social Tracker 2014’
MUMBAI: With the increasingly integral role that social media is playing in political campaigning for the upcoming General Elections 2014, TO THE NEW, a social and mobile first digital services provider, in association with IBN Live has launched a real-time tracker that evaluates digital conversations. The ‘Social Tracker 2014’, is a dashboard collecting data based on research by ThoughtBuzz, the social media analytics’ arm of TO THE NEW that analyzes real-time conversations and emerging trends on social media.
The dashboard will track the top political personalities and political parties who are actively being discussed across social platforms, both of which will be updated on a daily as well as a weekly basis. Additionally, it will also track the sentiment around the top personalities and political parties highlighting the most positively and negatively discussed personalities and parties and share word clouds that will highlight the key sentiments that are dominating the digital platform. The dashboard will also showcase top cities from where conversations are originating.
The dashboard aims to analyze digital conversation from across various social platforms such as Twitter, blogs, news sites and forums and can be viewed on the IBN Live Website starting from Monday, March 24, 2014. Audiences will receive daily updates and insights on the buzz around political campaigning in the run up to the General Elections 2014.
Commenting on the tracker Irfan Khan, Marketing Head, TO THE NEW said, “Young Indians are inherently social and mobile first. As they are going to play a major role in upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Social Tracker 2014 will provide real-time glimpse into the opinions, concerns and sentiments of these voters.”
“There are truths in social media which conventional journalism cannot unearth. It’s very exciting to find hidden insights and report them to our readers” added Arunava Sinha, Head – IBNLive.com, Network 18 Group.
You can take a look at the Social Tracker 2014 dashboard here.
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.
