News Broadcasting
Asia Cup sees cricketers turning out for news channels
MUMBAI: As channels gear up to get the maximum out of the upcoming cricketing season, news networks TV Today, Zee News and Star News have made it a point to entrust past and present cricketers with the duty of providing cricketing expertise to the viewers.
The cricketers who have been roped in by these channels, keeping in mind the cricket season that is about to unfold, include Sourav Ganguly, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, and Nayan Mongia.
In terms of profile, the prize catch is India captain Saurav Ganguly who will be leading the TV Today Network’s campaign for Aaj Tak and Headlines Today. While Nayan Mongia will pad up for Star News, Zee News has roped in the high-profile Pak duo of Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram.
There will be two special sessions Seedhe Sourav Se and “Captain’s Speak” in the programming schedule of Aaj Tak and Headlines Today respectively. Star News will have a special show Wah! Cricket anchored by Nayan Mongia.
Zee news will have Javed Miandad sharing his experience and expertise to predict the future of the teams as well as the matches. He will be interacting with the viewers who can participate in live phone-ins prior to and after the day’s match. Wasim Akram will be giving his special comments for the match live from Colombo along with the Zee news team.
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.
