News Broadcasting
US sniper coverage delivers record ratings
MUMBAI: If there was any doubters as to the possibilities open to the news channel wannabes queuing up to launch over the next few months catch a load of this.
The Washington sniper case that has had all news channels in the US on a feeding frenzy has delivered record ratings for the all-news networks.
Fox News Channel, which had averaged 901,000 viewers for a total day since the sniper story broke in early October, averaged 1.7 million viewers for the day, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. CNN, which had averaged 767,000 on sniper-coverage days, attracted an average 1.3 million viewers Wednesday, reports emonline.com.
MSNBC, which had averaged 434,000 viewers since the first sniper shooting, averaged 676,000 on Wednesday. Prime-time viewership spiked to an average of 3.2 million viewers for Fox, 2.8 million for CNN and 1.4 million for MSNBC.
However, the monster ratings cannot detract from the fact that the obsessive coverage has been widely criticised as possibly having increased the death toll from the attacks. There were also accusations that speculation dominated reporting.
“The media engaged in overkill. It was all-sniper, all the time, and that heightened the fear level,” Hill & Knowlton consultant was quoted as saying.
The flip side to this is that there are those who claim that the through aggressive reporting and unusual cooperation with the police, the press may have played a significant role in the capture of the suspects.
News Broadcasting
India Today Group debuts AI anchor ‘Sutra’ at AI Impact Summit 2026
Sutra aims to simplify live policy debates using sovereign AI models
NEW DELHI: India Today Group has unveiled Sutra, an AI-driven news anchor designed to deliver real-time, contextual reporting, marking the group’s latest push to integrate artificial intelligence into mainstream journalism.
The AI anchor was introduced at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi and developed in collaboration with BharatGen, with the initiative showcased by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
India Today Group said Sutra is built to navigate complex policy discussions and fast-moving developments by synthesising information into concise, accessible insights, aimed at narrowing the gap between high-level debates and public understanding. The AI anchor was used to surface live takeaways from key sessions at the summit.
India Today Group chief AI officer Nilanjan Das, said the project was focused on clarity and accessibility without diluting editorial rigour. He added that working with BharatGen aligned the group’s AI ambitions with India’s broader push towards sovereign technology capabilities.
BharatGen CEO Rishi Bal, said the partnership reflected a shift from basic automation towards deeper contextual intelligence in media. He emphasised the importance of indigenous, multimodal AI models capable of understanding Indian languages, regional dialects and cultural nuance, particularly as AI-driven news formats gain traction.
The launch positions India Today Group among the first major Indian media houses to deploy an AI anchor backed by home-grown technology, underscoring a growing convergence between journalism, public policy and sovereign AI infrastructure.
