News Broadcasting
South Asian music & social networking portal SaffronConnect.com launched
MUMBAI: SaffronConnect.com, an online social networking platform centered around South Asian audio and video content, has announced its official launch.
Saffron Connect promises to serve the global South Asian market and seeks to be the first-of-its-kind online music and social networking destination directly targeting the South Asian community.
The portal will provide content and entertainment services through online, mobile, emerging, and traditional distribution channels, as per an official release.
In terms of content, SaffronConnect.com will include a range from established bands to upcoming artists, major music labels to independent producers. The ‘Desi’ or South Asian market includes the residents of India, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well as the non-resident community who live around the world, the release adds.
The platform will allow independent artists, music labels and video content owners to upload, share and sell their content to a community of users with interests in South Asian media. Users, in turn, will be able to sample, hear, download and share songs among their friends and other members. Some key artists whose content is currently available on Saffron Connect include Bally Sagoo, Rishi Rich, Gunjan, Karmacy, and Bohemia. Content from Saffron Connect will also be distributed to services such as iTunes and Yahoo Music.
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.
