News Broadcasting
WorldSpace launches in Goa, Jaipur, Nagpur, Trivandrum
MUMBAI: Satellite radio firm WorldSpace has launched its subscription service in four more Indian markets- Goa, Jaipur, Nagpur, and Trivandrum.
Collectively representing a population of over 6.2 million, including approximately 2.6 million consumers who fall into WorldSpace’s targetted listener base, the new market launches expand the company’s target market penetration to nearly 38 million consumers nationwide.
To ensure ready access for subscribers in the new service areas, WorldSpace satellite radios are already available in nearly 100 retail outlets across the markets, with more expected in the near term.
WorldSpace COO Andy Ras-Work said, “WorldSpace continues to gain traction across India, and service availability in these burgeoning markets enables us to reach more Indian residents than ever before. These new members of the WorldSpace community will undoubtedly be pleased with the network’s expansive content diversity, including national, international and local music, news and entertainment, whenever and virtually wherever they want it.”
WorldSpace provides more than 40 channels of digital quality programming to the subcontinent of India, spanning a wide range of musical genres, news, sports and information. Its Indian programming includes two Indian classical channels — Shruti (Carnatic) and Gandharv (Hindustani), as well as regional Indian channels — Tara (Bengali), KL Radio (Tamil), Sparsha (Kannada), RM Radio (Malayalam) Spandana (Telugu) and Tunak Punjabi (Punjabi).
These commercial-free services and more are now available to subscribers in more than 14 markets throughout the country.
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.
