News Broadcasting
The FDI Decision fits in with our plans: Shekhar Gupta
What has been done is logical. A lot of lobbying has prevented this from happening. Also the political class was not courageous enough. It’s good this decision has been taken now. The momentum was too strong to allow FDI in print. They have allowed it in radio, TV, and several other sectors, so they could not hold it back any more. Once FDI in Indian print media progresses, they will know that there’s no real problem.
With FDI being permitted, it’s quite likely we will see a few new groups emerging because they will be able to access capital from the stock markets.
Shekhar Gupta
Editor-in-chief
Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd
As far as our group is concerned, our ongoing restructuring will continue to fall into place. We have been planning for this. In the course of time, we will be studying an IPO, a foreign strategic partner. It fits into our plans and is fully in sync with what we wanted.
I think the whole ball game is changing.With FDI being permitted, it’s quite likely we will see a few new groups emerging because they will be able to access capital from the stock markets. Earlier on, certain groups had made investment by foreign institutions a problem. I think wth FDI being permitted the FII investment issue also should be sorted out.
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.
