News Broadcasting
‘A Suitable Boy’ audio book bags 2 golden Spoken Words
MUMBAI: BBCs audiobook of Vikram Seths novel A Suitable Boy has won two Gold Awards at the 2002 Spoken Words Awards scheme.
It was the only audiobook to win two gold awards, one for drama and the other for best production, states an official release.
Written by Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy is an epic tale of India during the turbulent period following independence and partition. The audio book was recorded by BBC Audiobooks with an all-Indian cast.
“Audiobooks are a wonderful way of experiencing literary masterpieces. In the UK they are well on their way to the heart of mainstream entertainment and I think the audiobook of Vikram Seths A Suitable Boy may bring spoken word audio to new audiences in India,” BBC Worldwide Head of Africa and South Asia, Monisha Shah is quoted as saying in the release.
BBC Audiobooks raked in 16 more awards in all, including the Gold Award for Publisher of the Year. Other BBC titles winning an award were Goon Again, Dinnerladies 2, Elizabeth, The Century Speaks, Ruby in the Smoke, Our Mutual Friend, Dead Ringers: The Specials, The Amber Spyglass, Snail Eggs and Samphire, Les Miserables, Hymn, Artemis Fowl, The Daleks Masterplan and Talking It Over.
The Awards are run by the Spoken Word Publishing Association and are judged by a panel of independent experts, including journalists, producers, writers and retailers.
A Suitable Boy was the second novel by Calcutta-born Seth, who studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University and Stanford University. The novel was widely acclaimed and became an international bestseller.
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.
