News Broadcasting
Zee’s religious channel Jagran launches 14 Jan
NEW DELHI: As reported by indiantelevision.com earlier, Zee Telefilms is launching its religious channel, Jagran, tomorrow. In the Hindu calendar, the day is celebrated as Makar Sankranti, a day which heralds the arrival of autumn.
According to an official statement from Zee, Jagran will be the first religious channel in the country that attempts to entertain the audience with mythological movies, serials, alternate living and alternate healing programs, interactive astro solutions, spiritual content etc.
At the same time religious discourses of various religious gurus will also be aired on the channel during prime.
The statement quoting channel head Anil Anand said, “Jagran will give an overall experience that extends the currently restricted ‘prime time’ viewer-ship of religious channels from early morning hours, to nearly any time of the day.”
He further added, “We aim to broaden the market within this genre from only the 55+ age group to anyone who is 35+. This can be achieved by a slight inclination towards spiritualism as compared to any particular religion.”
The brand name Jagran is an off take from one of the most successful early morning program on Zee TV, called “Jagran.” This program has been on air for nearly five years now.
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.
