News Broadcasting
Zee stake at 73% after ETC allots preferential shares
ETC Networks Ltd has received a welcome cash infusion after its board yesterday approved the preferential allotment of slightly over 2.2 million equity shares to Subhash Chandra’s Zee Telefilms Limited for about Rs 70 million.
This latest transaction takes Zee’s stake in ETC to 73.35 per cent in the immediate term. The cash inflow is likely to be used to finance any further expansion plans that ETC may have.
A total of 2,220,812 shares were alloted at Rs 31.52 per Rs 10 share for just under Rs 70 million (Rs 69,999,994 to be exact) and ETC convened an extraordinary general body meeting (EGM) today to obtain shareholders’ approval.
It was last Monday that Zee took a controlling stake in ETC by mopping up 48.32 per cent of the company’s issued subscribed share capital for Rs 178.4 million. This was followed up last Wednesday by Zee announcing its open offer for 2,339,900 shares to acquire an additional 20 per cent equity stake of ETC Networks at Rs 31.52 per share.
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.
