News Broadcasting
BBC Hindi stems declining audience flow in India
MUMBAI: BBC World Service has stemmed its declining radio audience in India, according to an independent audience survey. The survey was commissioned by BBC World Service and was conducted by AC Nielsen between December 2004 and January 2005.
BBC Hindi has grown by 4.3 million, taking the BBC’s weekly Hindi audience up to 14.5 million. The survey, conducted in Bihar, UP, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, revealed that weekly listenership to the BBC confirms the BBC as India’s number one international radio provider.
The BBC captures 40 per cent of all those listening to the radio in Bihar, and a third of radio listeners in Jharkhand. In the remaining three states, just under one in five of radio listeners turn to the BBC Hindi Service every week. BBC Hindi head Achala Sharma, says that the increase in audience this year is likely to be the result of a combination of factors, “We have developed our programming so it connects directly with our audiences in the Hindi belt. I am also sure that our roadshow marketing initiative in Bihar and UP last year has contributed to this success.”
According to the survey, which was undertaken almost a year after the BBC Hindi roadshow ended, 16 per cent of weekly listeners said they were aware of the BBC Hindi events. This amounts to over two million people. The Hindi roadshow visited over 40 locations in UP and Bihar, giving local people direct contact with the BBC.
BBC World Service controller marketing communications and audiences, Alan Booth said, “India is a key market for the BBC. The rapid growth of TV viewing across India over the last 10 years, combined with India’s broadcasting legislation which prevents news and current affairs on FM radio stations, has changed the media landscape.
News Broadcasting
Book Cricket gets a digital century on News18 amid T20 fever
Nostalgic classroom game revamped in English, Hindi plus Telugu on web and app.
MUMBAI: When the T20 World Cup fever hits fever pitch, News18 decides to flip the script straight back to the classroom. The digital news platform has revived the timeless schoolyard favourite Book Cricket as an interactive online game, perfectly timed to ride the cricket wave gripping fans across the globe. The reimagined Book Cricket ditches textbooks for smartphones, blending old-school nostalgia with modern gameplay. Once a sneaky recess pastime played by flicking book pages to score runs, the digital version now offers seamless fun for anyone craving a quick cricket fix between overs.
Available in English, Hindi and Telugu (with more languages planned across News18’s network), the game sits within the platform’s fast-growing gaming portfolio of over 20 titles, all built in-house. It joins event-driven hits like ‘Kursi Catcher’ and ‘Result Rewind’ during the 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections, plus festive specials such as ‘Durga’s Astras’ for Durga Puja and ‘Mouse Modak’ for Ganesh Chaturthi.
News18 Digital CEO Mitul Sangani said, “Gaming is a key pillar of our engagement strategy. At News18, we uniquely combine our newsroom agility with immersive gaming experiences. By blending credible content with interactive formats, we are creating meaningful engagement in an era defined by shrinking attention spans and evolving consumption habits.”
Select titles have expanded beyond News18.com to CNBC-TV18.com and Firstpost.com, reflecting the network’s push to deepen user interaction across platforms. The Book Cricket game is live now at https://www.news18.com/games/book-cricket/.
In a tournament where every boundary counts, News18’s digital Book Cricket proves the simplest games can still deliver the biggest smiles no syllabus required, just pure cricket joy one page-flip at a time.
