News Broadcasting
Hair replaces Ryan as CNN news operations head
MUMBAI: Princell Hair has been named US chief of CNN’s news operations, replacing Teya Ryan, who has quit the company after a long spell of speculation on her departure.
Hair is the new executive vice president and general manager of CNN/US. Earlier, he was vice president of news for Viacom Inc’s Television Stations Group, where he oversaw news coverage. The company has said Ryan, who served as Atlanta-based CNN’s executive vice president and general manager, resigned her post to “pursue opportunities outside the CNN organization”.
Hair, regarded as a veteran of local TV news, oversaw news coverage across the Viacom umbrella of 39 television stations in 15 major US markets. “Princell brings to his new role, demonstrated expertise as a newsroom executive and gifted leader,” CNN News Group President Jim WaltonWalton said in a statement.
According to media reports, Ryan had been facing pressure due to CNN’s plunging ratings and ill-fated shows like Talk Back Live and a primetime programme hosted by Connie Chung.
Hair is to have two deputies – Sue Bonda, promoted to senior vice president for CNN/US, responsible for programming and all editorial content from CNN’s domestic bureaus and Newsource; and Jack Womack, senior vice president for CNN/US, in charge of operations and administration.
Ryan’s anticipated resignation has been the subject of media speculation for several weeks now. Her ascent at CNN coincided with the network falling behind rival Fox News Channel, an arm of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Entertainment Group.
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.
