News Broadcasting
etc’s ‘Kahani Kismat Ki’ set for 1000th show
MUMBAI: Indian television viewers definitely have a penchant for fortune telling sessions! Billed as the complete show on astrology, etc’s Kahani Kismat Ki is completing a marathon run of 1,000 episodes on 10 December 2002.
Kahani Kismat Ki has earned the distinction of being ‘the most watched’ and ‘the longest running astrological show’ on any satellite channel, an official release says.
Yielding to the viewers’ demand, Kahani Kismat Ki had to be changed its duration from a 15-minute show to a half an hour show within three months of its launch. After almost three years of continuous telecast, the show is still the top-ranking programme amongst all the music channels, the release says.
Quoting TAM data, etc says that Kahani Kismat Ki delivered TVR of 0.4 during the week 10 beginning 11 November, compared to 0.34 for MTV’s Non Stop Hits’, 0.23 for Channel [V]’s Back 2 Back and 0.14 for B4U’s Full Volume.
In an effort to make the programme more interactive, etc also incorporated SMS facility in this show. Viewers can type the code ‘ETCKISMET’ in the message box of a mobile phone; write their answers to the question asked during the show and send it to number ‘303’. This enables them to participate in the show and win prizes.
The channel attributes the popularity of Kahani Kismat Ki to the fact that it is not based on any particular religion. Show presenter Arya Guru Bhagwan Das talks about the importance of spirituality and many festivals of several religions. According to him, astrology is a science and should be treated with the same respect.
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.
