1. At a Glance – The Headline That Hurts
New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) today is what happens when credibility, reach, and brand power walk into a room… and the balance sheet flips the table. With a market cap of ₹918 crore, a current price of ₹81.4, and a book value of -₹7.85, NDTV is the rare listed media company that manages to be everywhere on your screen and deeply uncomfortable in your portfolio.
Q3 FY26 delivered ₹150 crore in quarterly revenue (YoY sales growth ~13%), but the party ended there. The quarter closed with a ₹80 crore net loss, operating margins at a savage -41%, and debt ballooning to ₹464 crore. ROE? A spectacular -133%—the kind of number usually reserved for case studies titled “How Not To Do Capital Allocation.”
Promoters, however, are doubling down. Promoter holding rose to 69.02%, helped by a ₹396.5 crore rights issue, oversubscribed and fully utilised (as per filings). NDTV now has fresh capital, a new CEO, expanded regional presence, and global digital ambitions.
The question is brutal and simple:
Is NDTV a turnaround-in-progress… or just expensive journalism funded by shareholder optimism?
2. Introduction – From Newsroom Royalty to Rights Issue Regular
NDTV isn’t some fly-by-night channel shouting breaking news from a basement studio. Founded in 1988, NDTV helped define English television journalism in India. For decades, it stood for editorial depth, global standards, and sober news delivery—basically the anti-thesis of loud prime-time theatrics.
Fast forward to FY26, and NDTV is now part of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group company. The brand still commands 500+ million combined audience, reaches 65 countries, and dominates social media with 21.9 million X followers, 32.25 million YouTube subscribers, and 4.6 billion video views in FY24.
So where did things go wrong financially?
Simple answer: costs, leverage, litigation, restructuring, and a business model
that loves eyeballs but struggles to monetise them profitably. While revenue has crawled forward, expenses have sprinted ahead. Operating losses have become routine, cash flows have turned hostile, and equity has been quietly eroded.
The Adani takeover promised scale, capital, and operational reset. FY24–FY26 shows the reset is happening—but at a very real financial cost.
So before we cheer “new management” and “digital growth,” let’s actually open the books. Ready?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
At its core, NDTV does one thing: news—but in every possible flavour.
Television Channels
- NDTV 24×7 – English news
- NDTV India – Hindi news
- NDTV Profit – Business & markets
- Regional Channels – MP-CG, Rajasthan, Marathi
Digital Platforms
- NDTV.com (flagship)
- NDTV Profit app & website (revamped)
- NDTV World Edition (global audience)
- Regional digital portals aligned with TV launches
Subsidiaries & Associates
- NDTV Convergence Ltd – digital, internet, mobile
- NDTV Worldwide Ltd – global channel consultancy
- Associates like Gadgets360 and Mojarto (commerce + content hybrids)
Revenue Model (FY24)
- Advertising: ~82%
- Subscriptions: ~4%
- Events + business income + VAS + interest + write-backs: balance
Translation for lazy investors:
NDTV sells attention. Advertisers pay. Costs eat everything. Losses remain.
The digital scale is impressive. The monetisation? Still under construction.
4. Financials Overview – Numbers That Don’t
