News Broadcasting
Pyramid Saimira Theatre IPO subscribed over 15 times
MUMBAI: The entertainment industry is riding on the wave of a strong stock market boom. The latest initial public offering (IPO) to have won support of the investors is Chennai-based Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd. The issue has been subscribed 15.40 times, the company said.
The equity shares of the company are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE. Pyramid Saimira Theatre entered the capital market on 11 December with a public issue aggregating Rs 844.4 million. The price band was fixed at Rs 88 to Rs 100 per equity share of Rs 10 each
The company has 148 screens and operates with over 1.8 million sq. ft. The IPO proceeds will be used for expansion of the current theatre chain into the northern region and consolidation in South India.
Pyramid plans to reach 350 screens operational by March 2007 with 9.60 million sq.ft. under operational management. The company plans to have over 2000 screens in 1550 locations across India with 58.75 million sq. ft. under operational management by 2010.
The total fund requirement is estimated at Rs 1.11 billion. This is being financed through IPO money and pre-issue capital and internal accruals of Rs 267.5 million. An amount of Rs 710.75 lacs has already been brought in by promoters on 30th November 2006 towards their contribution to the issue.
The project also includes the conversion of theatres into digital exhibition systems by installing digital projectors, servers, VSAT terminals and audio and video equipments. Further, there will be investment in a central network operating center [“NOC”] which will enable service provisioning for content transmission, rights management, theatre management and networked revenue management.
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.
