News Broadcasting
India, Senegal agree on joint cooperation in broadcasting and cinema
NEW DELHI: India and Senegal have agreed to form a joint working group in areas identified under the executive programme for cultural cooperation, including cinema and broadcasting, signed between the two countries.
The areas identified are based on the Articles 4 and 11 of the agreement pertaining to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The Agreement to constitute the joint working group was taken during the meeting between I&B Minister Manish Tewari and Senegal Culture Minister Abdul Aziz Mbaye. Both Ministers agreed to draw a time bound roadmap in order to take the cooperation in the Information and Broadcasting Sector forward.
During the discussions, Mbaye accepted the invitation to visit the International Film Festival of India in Goa in November this year. Both Ministers also agreed to identify cooperation in areas pertaining to co-production in the film sector, sharing the experience by India in setting up the National Museum of Indian Cinema and the efforts being made by India to establish a single window clearance for film shooting in the country.
Tewari apprised the Minister from Senegal on the potential of the areas of cooperation in the film sector and the participation in festivals such as the Children’s Film Festival and the Documentary Film Festival organised by the Films Wing of this Ministry.
Tewari also outlined the initiatives undertaken by the Ministry in the Broadcasting space. He specifically referred to the laws/rules/regulations formulated pertaining to Cable TV/DTH/HITS. Special mention was made regarding the digitisation process in the country and the endeavour to create a viable business model for the industry through this process.
The Senegal Minister referred to the possibilities of cooperation between the Public Broadcaster and the Senegalese Government Broadcaster in the near future.
Tewari also offered to cooperate in training and capacity building through the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. This segment could be promoted through workshops, training modules and orientation courses.
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.
