News Broadcasting
Not quite cricket? Hathway, MEL continue sparring
MUMBAI: For those who thought the spat between Hathway and Modi Entertainment Network Limited had ended; think again.
Although both parties claim to have reached an ‘understanding’ and Hathway put the MEN distributed DD Sports back on air on Thursday morning, Hathway retaliated today through the same medium that MEL has employed over the past few days – print.
In what is obviously an attempt to clear its turf, the MSO released an ad in the Times of India today, accusing MEL of anti customer attitude. “Only a fraction of the money collected from all the customers reaches Prasar Bharati /DD. The majority of the money goes to the pockets of MEL including the alleged recent price hike effected before the India/West Indies cricket series,” the ad says. Countering MEL’s allegation that Hathway ‘turned down’ DD Sports, the MSO questions the wisdom of such a move, since the series is being sponsored by Exide, a Hathway/WIN Cable associate company.
Taking on MEL’s allegation that Hathway refrains from showing DD Sports although it charges the viewers for it, Hathway has responded with a charge that MEL is forcing cable ops to carry TEN Sports, FTV and Hallmark, which it carries.
The dispute began on 11 October with the MSO’s refusal to accept DD Sports’ recent monthly subscription price hike from Rs 7.15 to Rs 8.95, when MEN switched off its feed in Mumbai and some other parts of Maharashtra.
For the last three days, MEL placed advertisements in The Times Of India defining its stand on the matter and accusing Hathway of denying its viewers the pleasure of watching Indian cricket even though it costs ‘less than a cup of tea’. It went on to urge viewers to ‘give their verdict’.
The icing to the cake , however, is Hathway’s declaration that “Hathway /Win cable is proud to carry India/ WI series ( Exide Cup) telecast on DD Sports” at the end of the ad.
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.
