News Broadcasting
Aaj Tak ad makes it official on new news channel
NEW DELHI: It’s almost official now. Just stopping short of issuing a press release, Aaj Tak, the news channel from the India Today Group (ITG) stable, has made it known, through an advertisement, that it is launching another news channel, in all probability in English.
The advertisement appeared almost in tandem with today’s clearance by the government of GE Mauritius Equity Investment’s plan to pick up a 7.5 per cent stake in the TV Today Network. The approval was one of 30 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs 2120 million that got the all-clear.
GE Capital, through its Mauritius outfit, is paying Rs 105 million for a stake in TV Today Network, United News of India has reported. Commerce and industry minister Murasoli Maran cleared the proposals on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
The huge advertisement, appearing in today’s edition of Times of India, calls for candidates for various posts (in the proposed channel) who would like to be “a part of the team that will make history again.”
The `subse tej’ news channel is also living up to its brash image, it seems. The advertisement starts off with fact No. 1 that Aaj Tak launched a 24-hour Hindi news channel, followed by Fact No. 2 that it became the number one news channel in less than a year (the rivals dispute this anyhow) and Fact No. 3 that Aaj Tak is launching “another news channel.”
Aaj Tak is looking for personnel to be part of the new channel in the editorial, production and technical divisions.
In what can be regarded as a precursor to the return of good times in the job market for journalists – reeling under severe recession – Aaj Tak has advertised for almost 14 posts in the editorial division. This need not necessarily mean that only 14 persons will be taken in as the company is looking at more than several special & principal correspondents and correspondents all over the country.
Efforts made by indiantelevision.com to contact senior execs of Aaj Tak came to a naught as only the company head, G Krishnan, interacts with the media and he is reportedly out of town.
In recent times, Krishnan, who along with ITG chief editor and chief executive Aroon Purie, is credited with the success of Aaj Tak, has been travelling lot within and outside the country which is an indicator that the new news channel is almost round the corner the talk is of a 26 January Republic Day launch, similar to what was done for Aaj Tak.
The Aaj Tak sister channel will not lack for company on the new news channel front. Star, NDTV, Videocon and the Sahara group are all in various stages of getting their channels on air.
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.
