News Broadcasting
Govt working to expand and deepen rural connectivity
NEW DELHI: The government is finalising a spectrum policy that would bring in an automated spectrum management system with 3G services being an integral part of it, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Pradip Baijal said here today.
Addressing the conclave on 3G Services and Opportunities for India, organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), Baijal said the policy on 3G has to be evolved with caution. Both the operators and the regulator would have to ensure that prices come down, while at the same time building flexibility with respect to spectrum allocation and making it affordable for carriers to create a sustainable business.
Pointing out that policies will have to be dictated by standards laid down by the International telecommunications Union (IT) and the availability of equipment in those ranges, he expressed confidence that with private operators opening more mobile towers in the interior regions of the country, 3G services would grow at a rapid pace, thus, giving a push to entertainment too.
He said the government was working on expanding and in view of the tremendous demand for broadband in rural areas and cited lack of adequate infrastructure in realising this opportunity.
Nokia Networks (Global) executive vice-president & GM Sari Baldauf spoke of the rapidly growing subscriber base of 3G WCDMA, which today stands at 11 million. WCDMA, she pointed out, provided higher capacity at lower cost leading to faster and richer services at reduced prices, consumer multimedia and broadband wireless access for consumers and corporate use.
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.
