News Broadcasting
Docu on Bush ‘Faith in the White House’ releases next month in US
MUMBAI: US president George Bush has been in the news a lot though not necessarily for the right reasons. Earlier this year, Michael Moore’s documentary Farenheit 9/11 which examined how Bush used 9/11 to manipulate the American public won the Palm d’or at Cannes.
To counter this, a new documentary from Grizzly Adams Productions (GAP) George W. Bush: Faith in the White House will release shortly on DVD and VHS.
It will then debut on network TV next month. Towards the end of the year it could enter cinema halls. The documentary’s producer David W. Balsiger added, “George W. Bush: Faith in the White House reveals a positive side of President Bush never reported by the news media. We have interviewed people who have encountered Bush in a faith-based way. Our documentary reveals that this is the most faith-based presidency since Abraham Lincoln.”
The documentary claims to balance credible research with candid testimony from both critics and presidential contacts that document Bush’s faith and prayer life. Balsiger further added that the documentary had been produced independently of any contact with the White House, the Bush Administration or influence from the Bush-Cheney Election Campaign. “It is based entirely on independent research and in part on two best-selling books.”
As far as Farenheit 9/11 is concerned there have been reports suggesting that Moore might push Bush as a possible nominee for best actor at next year’s Oscar Awards.
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.
