News Broadcasting
Sudarshan News’ UPSC Jihad show offensive, breached Programme Code: MIB to SC
NEW DELHI: In an affidavit presented to the Supreme Court of India, the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has stated that Sudarshan News’ controversial programme Bindas Bol – UPSC Jihad is “against good taste and decency, attacks religious communities, and contains defamatory and obscene half-truths.”
"The ministry is of the opinion that while freedom of speech and expression is a fundamental right, the tone and tenor of the episodes telecast do indicate that the channel has, through the various utterances and audio-visual content, breached the programme code," MIB stated in the affidavit.
The ministry has not barred the airing of future episodes of Bindas Bol, but issued guidelines to Sudarshan TV to prevent any Programme Code violation, by ensuring that the show doesn’t offend against "good taste or decency"; doesn’t contain anything "false, defamatory, suggestive innuendoes or half-truths"; and doesn’t attack "religions or communities."
It further cautioned Sudarshan News to be careful henceforth, and if any violation of the Programme Code happens in future, the channel will be subjected to strict penal action.
“The channel should review the content of the future episodes of the programme Bindas Bol – UPSC Jihad and the audio-visual content should be suitably moderated and modified, so as to ensure there is no violation of Programme Code,” the MIB said.
The Delhi high court had stayed the telecast of the programme on August 28 and the next day had disposed of the plea with a direction to the ministry to take a decision on the prohibition of the show. It was directed to the channel and its editor to not broadcast the show till such time as the ministry makes its decision.
On 15 September, the apex court had put on hold the telecast of the show. Then on 26 October, the ministry told the apex court that it was ready with its order in relation to a show-cause notice issued to Sudarshan TV based on the recommendation of an inter-ministerial group, which had viewed all the episodes of the channel’s Bindas Bol programme.
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.
