News Broadcasting
BBC online radio benefits from Ashes coverage
MUMBAI: Live coverage of The Ashes contributed to another record month of online listening to BBC Radio in the UK. Desk-bound cricket fans kept up-to-date with England’s progress.
Five Live Sports Extra and Radio 4 LW both eclipsed their previous online listening records by more than 300 per cent in August, notching up two million and 250,000 hours of live online listening respectively.
The networks’ figures – buoyed by office workers keen to follow the action on the Internet – contributed to a monthly total of 16.1 million hours of live and on demand listening.
BBC 7’s wide range of programming in August – from a Little Britain night to a Bill Nighy weekend – brought increased traffic to the station’s website, with more than 460,000 unique user agents visiting during the month.
Between them they consumed more than a million hours of BBC 7 on demand and secured the network six programmes in August’s On Demand Top 30.
This year’s Proms attracted more than 385,000 on demand listens – a 66 per cent increase on last year.
News Broadcasting
Parikshit Luthra exits CNBC-TV18 after 20-year run
Former bureau chief to take brief pause before next role
NEW DELHI: Senior journalist Parikshit Luthra has signed off from CNBC-TV18, marking 28 February 2026 as his final day and closing nearly two decades with Network18 Media & Investments Limited, including eight years at the business news channel.
During his tenure, Luthra interviewed prominent business leaders and Union ministers, reporting on economic policy, corporate strategy, the automobile sector and financial markets. His coverage spanned key inflection points in India’s economic narrative.
He also led new programming formats such as Newscentre, Global Eye and Global Lens, shows that examined politics and foreign policy through an economic prism, reflecting the channel’s push towards globally linked business reporting.
In a LinkedIn post, Luthra said his final weeks were spent covering the Union Budget, the India AI Summit, India’s trade agreements with the US and EU, and the group’s flagship Rising Bharat Summit 2026. He added that he continued anchoring until his last day and briefly met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his closing assignments.
Luthra joined CNBC-TV18 in June 2018 as assistant editor, later rising to senior editor and chief of bureau, a position he held for over two years. Before that, he worked with Republic TV and CNN-News18.
He said he plans to take a short break before embarking on his next professional chapter.
