News Broadcasting
Rituraj Dasgupta rises to GM & head of brand solutions at ABP Network
MUMBAI: Rituraj Dasgupta has stepped into a new role as general manager and head – brand solutions at ABP Network, where he will helm the company’s freshly-minted Created Business vertical.
The mandate?
A sharp blend of content, creativity and brand strategy to deliver impact-driven partnerships.
With over two decades of experience across advertising, media sales, and integrated marketing, Dasgupta now leads marketing strategy, client success, and partnerships at one of India’s leading media houses. Prior to this, he served as deputy general manager at ABP Group, where he steered content-led marketing solutions for national clients in West Bengal, aligning editorial insights with business outcomes.
From stints at Mid Day, 9X Media, DNA, and The Times of India, Dasgupta brings a deep understanding of stakeholder engagement and revenue-focused brand narratives. His career has been marked by an instinct for building tailored solutions and measurable results — a trait likely to define the next phase at ABP Network.
Now based in Mumbai and operating on-site, Dasgupta is expected to spearhead the network’s ambition to turn storytelling into a business engine.
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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.
