News Broadcasting
Arnab quits Times Now; Twitter gets noisy
MUMBAI: When a man at the top of his game moves on, he is probably got a bigger game in mind. Love him or hate him, but, you cannot ignore him. He has transformed the way news is gathered, broadcast and consumed on Indian television.
Known for standing with his viewers, replacing discussions with his monologue brand of nationalism, Arnab Goswami, India’s preacher-in-chief, has bid adieu to Times Television Network. He was the editor-in-chief of Times Now and ET Now. The channel’s flagship primetime show at 9pm – The Newshour, was Goswami’s last as its anchor on Tuesday..
Goswami reportedly announced his resignation at an editorial meet on Tuesday morning.
With speculation rife everywhere about his next movement, some hint at his new independent media venture while some state that he is going to be the face of some other channel.
One thing is clear, from Wednesday, family dinner debates will be incomplete without him. The ‘loud’ news space, a niche which he championed, will be left with a void and the nation wants to know why…He made sure that even those who dislike his debates made themselves, secretly at times, available in front of their living room TV sets to enjoy the high-decibel show.
From what made him take this impending jump from the newsroom to what is next on the cards is still not clear. Although, right after this news broke, it took less than a minute for the Twitterati to erupt with reactions, both positive and negative. From observing a one-minute noise as a tribute to the anchor, to observing the 9-10 pm as the “Earth Day” post his resignation, following which, Twitter went berserk.
.@Amul_Coop retort on #ArnabGoswamiResigns from #Timesnow and it says it all 🙂 pic.twitter.com/z7q4idCyHM
— Kumar Manish (@kumarmanish9) November 1, 2016
End of an era with Arnab quitting Times Now. I shall observe one minute noise to mark the occasion.
— Rohan (@mojorojo) November 1, 2016
Arnab Goswami resigns from Times Now ! … We did it !#ArnabGoswami #TimesNow pic.twitter.com/y6ZjDGlCFZ
— Nikhil Sapre (@NSphd) November 1, 2016
Arnab quit Times Now. 9 PM to 10 PM will be observed as Earth Hour.
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) November 1, 2016
Damn you, Arnab. Who will be the conscience of the ratings now?
— Madhu Menon (@madmanweb) November 1, 2016
Just spotted #ArnabGoswami outside the Times Now office. pic.twitter.com/xiiBe7CiWg
— East India Comedy (@EastIndiaComedy) November 1, 2016
#ArnabGoswami to start #BJPNOW new channel .
— Narendra Modi (@OfficeOfModi) November 1, 2016
You know #ArnabGoswami will take his audience along wherever he goes when it's him trending all eve & not his hashtags evn if its on terror.
— MaharaniOnWheels (@royally_fiery) November 1, 2016
Now who will shout recklessly on the top of the voice? #ArnabResigns#arnabgoswami #ArnabGoswamiResigns
— Sheila Dikshit (@SheilaDikhsit) November 1, 2016
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI: Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
