News Broadcasting
Zee’s ‘Betiyann’ clears telecast stay hurdle
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has refused to stay Zee TV’s latest prime time launch Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, in a copyright infringement suit filed by writer Rekha Modi. She had alleged that the concept of the serial being aired by Zee originally belonged to her.
However, due to creative differences with Zee TV, she later approached Star India with the script. The Star One soap titled Betiyann – Apni yaa Paraya Dhan — which is based on Modi’s script — is launching on 9 October.
Justice S J Vazifdar refused to grant any interim relief after Modi failed to submit proof of her rights for the concept. The Court also noted that, the copyright for the serial now belonged to the production house Creative Eye. Also, Star India is not complaining about any copyright infringement.
“The Betiyann concept is originally owned by Creative Eye and Modi couldn’t produce any proof to support her claim. Hence, the court has refused to stay the Zee TV soap,” said Zee Networks SVP Ashish Kaul.
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.
