News Broadcasting
Asianet announces ‘Idea Star Singer’ winners
MUMBAI: Malayalam channel Asianet has announced the winners of the inaugural edition of its music talent hunt programme Star Singer. In the male category, the top prize was bagged by Arun Raj. Kavita Jayaram pocketed the first prize in the female category.
Vivekanand and Parvati Chandramohan won the top prizes in the male and female category respectively. Midhun M D and Sangeeta made it to the third spot.
The mega final event held in Thrissur was attended by celebrities including the talent hunt judges music director M Jayachandran, playback singers K S Chitra and Tippu.
The top ranked male and female singers will win a chance to sing under music director M Jayachandran for an upcoming movie. Apart from a deal with Satyam Audios, the contest winners will also get the opportunity to perform at various foreign destinations including Dubai and Kuwait. The second prize winner will be offered a playback assignment for a movie to be directed by Ranjith.
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.
