News Broadcasting
Esha Media Research sees upsurge in demand for political content clips
KOLKATA: With the 2014 Lok Sabha elections likely to become a case study for the whole country, Esha Media Research, a media monitoring and research company, has registered an increase in inquiries seeking clips of political content of top political leaders.
If sources are to be believed, Trinamool Congress’s advertising agency, after the party’s performance in the 16th Lok Sabha polls, has approached Esha Media to conduct a media perception study on the elections as whole.
According to Esha Media Research managing director RS Iyer, of the 1200 hours of business content they track, 700 hours comes from channels that have negligible proportion of political content. “However, during the election season, we have monitored and tracked political content of 45 hours per month resulting in 2,000 clips every month for the past three months,” informs Iyer.
“Apart from political parties and leaders soliciting these clips, we are also receiving inquiries from media agencies and business houses tracking the economic content of certain political leaders,” he adds.
Without revealing the names of the clients and agencies, Iyer informs that some forums are interested in getting the speeches of Prime Minister elect Narendra Modi.
He also emphasised that the demand for content clips is higher in politics than in business news. “For instance, 100 clips are derived from every 12 hours of business content while in the political content the same number of clips is derived in 2 hours 15 minutes. This indicates that more number of people are chasing the same portion of content in the political segment,” Iyer explains.
So what is it that is getting viewers attracted to the political content? Answers Iyer, “The oratory skills of the political leaders have attracted the attention of TV channels to go live and reach out to the drawing rooms of the citizens across the country.”
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.
