News Broadcasting
MTV to launch ‘Sound Check’ on 10 March
MUMBAI: To address the varying demands of young consumers in the present day, MTV is set to launch yet another ‘check point’ titled Sound Check on 10 March.
Unlike countdown shows that the network is known for, this one adds a twist to it with a bunch of funny animated graphic characters (speakers) rather than a VJ, to offer expert comments coupled with crazy stunts.
One character (a speaker) does the ‘snake’ dance to others tunes
On the lines of fashion based show Style Check and gadget and gizmo focussed Tech Check, the latest addition to complete the trio will “review music albums from Bollywood and International artists for which we have devised our own unique currency,” MTV VP creative and content and GM Ashish Patil told Indiantelevision.com.
All the speakers do the Mexican wave!
Apart from the cliché trivia and information, these vignettes of five minutes each which will have five animated speakers, created by the in-house graphic team, will elaborately predict the fate of the selected album.
On a five point rating scale, these guys will perform stunts to depict the success of an album by either shooting themselves in the head or teaming up to do the Mexican wave and other such bizarre behaviour.
Stopppp…This speaker hates this song!
Although MTV attempts to bring out its core proposition that is in sync with the youth funda – ‘Enjoy,’ Patil says that behind these comical characters are key MTV programming experts that will critically appraise the various music albums on parameters like rhythm, melody, lyrics etc. to determine what’s going to be hot!
Tracking the changing needs of Indian youth, Patil says that extensive research points to the various touch points that youth connect with, including style and fashion, adventure, technology, cricket and even casual dating, therefore the network has attempted to bring their brand to each of these genres through an array of differentiated programming.
Although, music is part of the core proposition of the channel, it currently supports 30 per cent of non-music content with Hero Honda Roadies, Lycra MTV Style Awards, GPL, Aila Tendulkar, Semi Girebaal and the likes…. As advocates in identifying youth trends, MTV will continue to deliver all these different genres, with wit and humour at the crux of it all!
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.
