Stock Report

Network18 Reports 10% Revenue Growth in Q1 FY27 Amid Election Ad Surge and BARC Ratings Halt

Posted On : 2026-07-15 21:01:29( TIMEZONE : IST )

Network18 Media & Investments Limited today announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 (Q1 FY27), showcasing a resilient operational performance. Powered by a surge in advertising during state elections, the company registered double-digit growth in consolidated revenue, maintaining its position as India's leading digital news publisher despite industry-wide regulatory headwinds.

Consolidated Financial Summary

Network18's consolidated entity-which includes its news operations, News18 Marathi, Moneycontrol Dot Com India Limited, and History TV18 (AETN18)-demonstrated stable top-line expansion:

Consolidated Operating Revenue: Reached ₹516 crores for the quarter, growing 10.3% YoY from ₹468 crores in Q1 FY26. On a sequential basis, revenue fell by 16.2% from ₹616 crores in Q4 FY26.

Consolidated Operating Expenses: Stood at ₹509 crores, up 9.7% YoY from ₹464 crores. The increase in operating costs was primarily driven by the annual employee increments cycle falling in Q1 this year (as opposed to Q2 in the previous year).

Consolidated Operating EBITDA: Came in at ₹8 crores, up 80.3% YoY from ₹4 crores in Q1 FY26, though down from ₹30 crores in Q4 FY26 due to the impact of the increment cycle.

Operating EBITDA Margin: Settled at 1.5%, compared to 0.9% in Q1 FY26 and 4.9% in Q4 FY26.

Net Profit/Loss: The consolidated loss before tax stood at ₹38.4 crores compared to a profit before tax of ₹148.9 crores in Q1 FY26 (which was elevated by an exceptional gain of ₹150.64 crores from the fair value adjustment of Eenadu Television Private Limited).

Strong Election-Led Advertising Performance

The quarter saw multiple state elections-notably in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu-providing a significant boost to political and government advertising campaigns. While the industry experienced a sharp drop of over 10% YoY in non-government advertising due to the West Asia conflict and weak monsoon forecasts, Network18 bucked the trend.

The company's ad inventory consumption grew 10% YoY (compared to the industry average of just 3%), and its non-government inventory grew by approximately 2%. Diversification across regions and genres, alongside a strong monetization uptick on Connected TV (CTV) screens, allowed Network18 to sustain momentum even as TV viewership ratings remained unavailable.

Dominance in the Digital and Social Ecosystem

Network18 strengthened its status as India's top digital news and information network, capturing approximately 76% reach in the segment.

Total Digital Reach: The network attracted ~360 million monthly unique users across its diverse digital properties, which include Moneycontrol, News18, Firstpost, and CNBCTV18.

YouTube and Social Media: Network18 maintained its position as the biggest news network on YouTube, recording over 6 billion video views in the month of June alone-double that of its nearest competitor. Total views across all social platforms crossed 32 billion during the quarter (up 31% QoQ), while its combined social footprint reached 472 million followers.

Moneycontrol & Moneycontrol Pro: Moneycontrol consolidated its position as India's leading financial intelligence platform, commanding three times the time-spent and double the page views of its nearest competitor. Moneycontrol Pro surpassed 1 million paid subscribers and introduced "Portfolio X Ray," an analytical tool evaluating stock portfolios against valuation ratings.

News18.com & Firstpost: News18.com saw an 8% sequential increase in unique users, aided by a revamped Election Analytics Centre that increased homepage engagement time by 2.5x. Firstpost continued to gain traction as a global affairs destination with an Indian perspective, nearing 10 million YouTube subscribers and generating over 270 million views in the quarter, with more than half of those views originating outside India.

Television Ratings Suspension Under New Policy

The television broadcasting industry experienced a disruption in viewership metrics during the quarter. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) initially paused news channel ratings due to concerns over the coverage of the West Asia conflict.

Subsequently, the MIB directed the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to suspend television ratings across all genres-including non-news-until BARC's license is renewed under the newly introduced Television Ratings Policy, 2026. The new policy mandates strict changes, including expanded sample sizes, revised board governance norms, and enhanced audit requirements.

Before this pause, Network18 stood as India's largest TV news network, holding an all-India viewership share of 13.8% and reaching 230 million people monthly. Its lead channels, including CNBC-TV18, News18 India, and CNN-News18, were the clear market leaders in their respective segments.

Mr. Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman of Network18, commented: "The quarter gone by was a mixed one, for us as well as the industry. While on one hand, state elections gave a boost to advertising revenue, the ongoing geopolitical conflict and weak monsoon forecast were dampeners for the macroeconomic mood. Government interventions on the viewership ratings have also been negative for the sentiments of the industry. Despite these developments, we are fully focused on making our products better by ensuring that they serve their consumers effectively, so that when the macro environment improves, we are in the right position to benefit from it."

Shares of Network18 Media & Investments Limited was last trading in BSE at Rs. 31.71 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 31.95. The total number of shares traded during the day was 118192 in over 440 trades.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 32.15 and intraday low of 31.60. The net turnover during the day was Rs. 3766104.00.