News Broadcasting
Star, ABP to pool inputs to boost Star News
MUMBAI: After a recent visit of News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch to India, Star is looking at sharing more with its Indian partner global experiences relating to news. In this regard, Star India COO Sameer Nair may play an important role.
Sources in Star India confirmed to Indiantelevision.com that after Murdoch’s visit to India and subsequent deliberations, this development was given final shape, which, however, doesn’t upset the management control of Kolkata-based ABP group over Star News.
Star News is managed by a 74:26 joint venture (Media Content & Communications Services India Pvt Ltd) between ABP group and Star Group. When contacted both Nair and ABP owner-cum-MCCS chairman Aveek Sarkar refused comment on the developments.
At present, it is not clear how Nair would play an increased role in Star News’ operations. Star is currently represented on the Indian board through Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea and CFO G Subramanium, while the company’s president, corporate affairs, Nitin Atroley, is a special invitee. For practical purpose, Atroley attends most MCCS board meetings.
Star News ad sales, being done by Star India till last year, is now a responsibility of MCCS, while the distribution continues to be with Star India.
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.
