News Broadcasting
DD looking at identity makeover; Piyush Pandey may be the man to do it
NEW DELHI: Taking a leaf out of private satellite broadcasters’ strategy book, India’s Prasar Bharati is contemplating hiring the services of a top notch advertising professional to primarily give the channels of Doordarshan a distinct look and identity.
According to sources in Doordarshan, a final decision has not yet been taken, but the name of Piyush Pandey, the head of WPP company O&M India, is top of the pops.
In recent times some private broadcasters too, have undertaken similar initiatives and unveiled new channel logos, looks, et al. This includes the Subhash Chandra-controlled Zee Telefilms as well.
Prasar Bharati Corporation, which oversees the functioning of pubcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR), has recently taken several steps to be contemporary, even while remaining within the parameters of a public service broadcasting organisation.
Sources added that the issue of getting a top ad professional to advise Prasar Bharati on the channel look, identity and logo was discussed in one of the recent board meetings of the Corporation.
The rationale behind such a move, as and when it actually materialises, is to bring some life into the normally staid functioning of DD and AIR and something which will excite the viewers and listeners of DD and AIR.
Though DD’s reach as a terrestrial broadcaster far outstrips those of any private broadcaster – maybe all of them put together – the look and feel of DD channels, especially DD National and DD Metro, still seem to be stuck in the past.
But it must be said that with the arrival of Prasar Bharati chief executive KS Sarma and DD director-general SY Quraishi, things have started looking up. The DG, especially, takes great pride, like senior executives of any other private broadcaster, in highlighting the reach of DD and the advantage that this reach can give to advertisers.
Still, it must be said that in the past DD has experimented with advisors on various aspects of marketing and communication with little result. For example, sometime in the past film personalities Ketan and Deepa Mehta had been entrusted with the task of giving a new look to DD that went by and large unnoticed and proved to be ineffective too. Though the Mehtas went home with a fat cheque from DD.
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.
