News Broadcasting
ARY digital announces US tour to promote Indo-Pak bonds
MUMBAI: It’s a union for a nobel quest. The ARY Digital network and Stardreamz entertainment USA, today announced the Music Mela 2004 – The India / Pakistan Peace Tour.
With Indian bhangra sensation Sukhbir and Pakistan’s pop idol Shehzad Roy roped in as the star performers, this nine cities the United State tour concert will begin on 7 May in New Jersey and will conclude on 30 May. The concerts to be held in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Connecticut and New York, will be televised for ARY Digital.
“With concerts like these we see community members of both countries coming together to have an good time in places like America, UK and Middle East, where Indians and Pakistanis live together as one, we feel initiatives like this tour, is positive for the process of peace between India and Pakistan”, said ARY Network CEO and president Salman Iqbal.
The tour will also include performances by RDB Group, Legacy Group, Nasim Vicky, Abeer, Malko, Usman, Sarmad, and RH Factor Dance Group, says an official release.
After successfully bringing Asians in UK and Middle East closer to home through its region specific productions, programming and events, this month ARY Digital launched its 24 hour news channel ARY one world and flagship entertainment channel in the United States, says the release.
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.
