News Broadcasting
Government defers decision on TV channels’ apology
NEW DELHI: The Indian government deferred a decision on cracking the whip on TV channels airing surrogate liquor and tobacco advertisements.
A communiqué from the information and broadcasting ministry to TV channels said that the decision on airing a public apology from 18-21 August has been deferred.
The ministry communication also added that a decision on airing of surrogate ads relating to liquor and tobacco companies would be taken by a “competent authority” at a later date.
The ministry of Information and Broadcasting had earlier this month issued a warning to 43 channels directing them to carry a scroll for three days regretting airing surrogate advertisements of liquor and tobacco products in violation of rules.
The ministry, however, did not elaborate on the competent authority that will decide on such matters or when would such an authority come into existence.
Broadcasting industry sources said that this was an outcome of effective lobbying with the ministry.
On Monday, broadcast industry representatives met up with I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and ministry’s secretary SK Arora to discuss various aspects of a proposed broadcast legislation, a draft of which has been dubbed “draconian” by stakeholders.
One of the issues discussed that day was airing of an apology by ‘errant’ TV channels, which was described as public humiliation.
Interestingly, when confronted with the apology issue, Dasmunsi had told some of the media companies’ representatives that he wasn’t aware of such a diktat.
The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) had also written to the ministry expressing member-TV channels’ reservations on the issue of scrolling an apology.
The scroll that was to be aired 24-hours for three days read thus: “Ministry of information & broadcasting issues a warning to X (name) channel for telecasting surrogate advertisements of liquor/tobacco products in violation of advertising code. X (name) channel regrets this and apologies for the same. We assure to be more careful in future.”
Meanwhile, a government-industry meeting on coverage of terrorism and related issues by TV news channels, slated to be held 18 August, was postponed.
No further date has been intimated to TV channels presently.
The meeting, called in the aftermath of bomb blasts in Mumbai recently, was to deliberate on the modalities of coverage of terrorism-related events.
At least two Indian news channels had been issued show-cause notices by the I&B ministry for airing programmes, which have been “objected” to by security forces and the home ministry.
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.
