News Broadcasting
Times Now tops the chart with 116 mn views on YouTube & Facebook in October
Mumbai: Times Now has emerged as India’s most-watched English news channel on digital platforms in the news genre.
According to a data released by Crowdtangle & Vidooly, Times Now clocked a staggering viewership of 116 million on YouTube and Facebook in October surpassing CNN-News18 (105 million), India Today (104 million), NDTV (82 million), and Republic TV (18 million). On the back of the fastest news, exclusive news breaks and most viewed prime-time shows – India Upfront and Newshour, the channel registered a phenomenal reach of over 1 billion on digital.
Times Now claims to be a leader in the digital space with innovative content formats that seamlessly adapt to the preferences of viewers who are tech savvy, setting industry benchmarks with its distinct brand of action-oriented journalism that is firmly based on reliable, accurate, and decisive news reporting.
According to Facebook Data, as informed by the media conglomerate, Times Now attracted over 210 million views on its digital films across Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Timesnownews.com with a series of digital-first videos that include comprehensive insights on every significant news topic of the day. With 2.35 million interactions, the highest number in the cohort, and a total reach of 125 million for the month of October on the platform, Facebook saw a channel with a high level of engagement.
Times Network president & COO of digital business Rohit Chadda said, “We are overwhelmed with the viewer’s response as their preferred news destination on digital platforms. The growing reach and engagement on digital are a testament to the viewers’ trust in Times Now. Video has now become the preferred format of news consumption and will only grow further with the launch of 5G. We are committed to expanding our video coverage to cater to all cohorts of users consuming content online.”
With a focus on in-depth, well-researched content, coupled with coverage of big-ticket events, Times Now has been expanding its digital footprint globally with over 50 per cent of views on YouTube from International markets including US, Europe and APAC regions.
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: 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.
