News Broadcasting
Sunil Lulla promoted to President, Corporate Development of BCCL Group
MUMBAI: Nine years ago, Sunil Lulla was given the challenge of steering the Times Television Network’s (TTN) fortunes in a competitive Indian TV landscape. Today, the late entrant in the industry has blossomed as a broadcast major. And it seems like the former TTN MD and CEO’s efforts have not gone unnoticed by the board of Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL). Lulla is being challenged once again to work his magic on and grow some relatively nascent activities within the group.
Lulla has been designated as President of Corporate Development in the BCCL group and has been been given the task of replicating his earlier success with TTN in smaller BCCL businesses like music, sports, new IP, international events and other initiatives. The Times Music division will now be reporting to Lulla who will be working closely with Times Internet CEO Satyan Gajwani and BCCL group MD Vineet Jain.
Former Disney UTV Media Networks MD MK Anand will be taking over as the new MD and CEO of TTN, stepping into Lulla’s shoes. The date when both of them will be taking on their new roles is not yet clear but it will be sometime in February.
Lulla has nearly three decades of experience in the industry. He has worked with leading organizations such as MTV, Sony Entertainment Television and successfully built TTN into an enterprise. Now he will have to create a new legacy for TTN’s parent-BCCL.
While MK Anand was unavailable for comment, Sunil Lulla confirmed the news about his new role. Apparently an official announcement was made internally by the BCCL management very recently.
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:Â 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.
