News Broadcasting
TRAI notification freezes cable TV rates as on 26 December 2003
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which a short while ago issued its “CAS consultation note”, has frozen the prices of cable services in respect of free to air (FTA) and pay channels as on 26 December 2003 for CAS and non CAS areas.
This it has done through a fresh notification exercising the powers conferred on it by the government notification of 9 January that gave it additional responsibility of overseeing broadcasting and cable services as a regulator.
Through “The Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable) Services Tariff Order 2004” all channel rates have been frozen pending further orders at the levels they were at on 26 December.
The question the new order raises is whether connectivity will also be frozen as of 26 December? This is particularly relevant in the light of certain channels claiming that they have not increased their rates, but have reduced the rates, provided the cable ops and MSOs have increased their declared subscription base. Effectively, what this is tantamount to is a rate hike.
For the record, the operative part of “The Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable) Services Tariff Order 2004” is as follows:
“The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), vide a Notification issued today (Pausa 25, 1925 No. 301-3/2004-Eco) has specified a ceiling on “the rates at which the charges will be paid by the cable subscribers to cable operators, by the cable operators to multi service operators and by Multi Service Operators to broadcasters, as those prevailing on 26th December 2003 with respect to both free-to-air channels and pay channels, and for both CAS and non-CAS areas.”
“This intervention will continue until a final determination by the TRAI on the various issues involved. The hon’ble Delhi High court, in cw no. 8993-4/2003 dated 26th December 2003, directed the continuance of implementation of CAS in Delhi on a trial basis, initially for a period of three months, after which appropriate directions would be issued after taking into account the feedback for the three months’ experience. The ceiling on rates have therefore been specified as those prevailing on 26th December, 2003.”
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.
