MAM
Awaaz of the Budget as CNBC AWAAZ Tops the Charts
63 per cent speech share and 76.4 per cent week lead seal its pole position.
MUMBAI: When the numbers did the talking, one awaaz rose above the rest. As finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the Union Budget 2026 on 1 February, CNBC Awaaz tightened its grip on the Hindi business news space, emerging as the clear market leader during one of the most closely watched events of the financial calendar.
According to BARC data for HSM Urban, TG 22–40 M, during the live telecast of the Budget speech between 11:00 am and 12:30 pm, CNBC Awaaz commanded a formidable 63 per cent market share. Rival Zee Business trailed at 37 per cent. On a day when every decimal point matters, the gap was anything but marginal.
The dominance extended well beyond the speech window. Across the full Budget Day on 1 February 2026, CNBC Awaaz secured a 61.3 per cent market share, compared to Zee Business at 38.7 per cent, underlining sustained viewer preference throughout the day’s rolling coverage.
Budget Day is traditionally high voltage television, with audiences glued to screens tracking taxation tweaks, sectoral allocations, fiscal signals and their real time impact on markets. CNBC Awaaz’s mix of live decoding, expert panels, corporate reactions and trader insights appeared to strike a chord with its core investor audience.
The momentum did not fade with the closing bell. During Budget Week, Week 05’26, in HSM 10L plus markets among TG 22–40 M, the channel widened its lead further, capturing a commanding 76.4 per cent market share. Zee Business stood at 23.6 per cent, less than half of CNBC Awaaz’s share, reinforcing its grip beyond the headline announcements.
The leadership story was not confined to television. On the digital front, CNBC Awaaz also ranked among the world’s top viewed live news streams on Union Budget Day 2026. Between 11:00 am and 12:40 pm, the peak live window, the channel registered a peak concurrency of 765.1K, recording 3.5 times the viewership of Zee Business, according to Databeings.
In a landscape where business news is measured in both credibility and clicks, CNBC Awaaz appears to have balanced both. On Budget 2026, it was not just the fiscal math that added up. The ratings did too.
Digital
India leads global adoption of ChatGPT Images 2.0 in first week
From anime avatars to fantasy covers, users turn AI visuals into culture
NEW DELHI: India has emerged as the largest user base for ChatGPT Images 2.0, just a week after its launch by OpenAI, underlining the country’s growing influence on global internet trends.
While the tool was introduced as an advanced image-generation upgrade within ChatGPT, Indian users are quickly reshaping its purpose. Instead of sticking to productivity-led use cases, many are embracing it as a creative playground for self-expression, storytelling and online identity.
From anime-style portraits and cinematic headshots to tarot-inspired visuals and fictional newspaper front pages, the model is being used to create highly stylised, shareable content. Features such as accurate text rendering, multilingual prompts and the ability to generate detailed visuals with minimal input have helped drive rapid adoption.
What sets the latest model apart is its ability to “think” through prompts, generating multiple outputs and adapting to context, including real-time web inputs. But the bigger story lies in how users are engaging with it.
In India, trends are already taking shape. Popular formats include dramatic studio-style lighting edits, LinkedIn-ready headshots, manga-inspired avatars, soft pastel “spring” aesthetics, AI-led fashion moodboards, paparazzi-style visuals and fantasy newspaper covers. Users are also restoring old photographs, creating tarot-style imagery and experimenting with futuristic design concepts.
Local flavour is adding another layer. Prompts such as cinematic portrait collages and Y2K-inspired romantic edits are gaining traction, blending global aesthetics with distinctly Indian internet culture.
The surge reflects a broader shift in how AI tools are being used in the country, moving beyond utility to creativity. As younger users, creators and social media enthusiasts experiment with new visual formats, AI-generated imagery is increasingly becoming part of everyday digital expression.
If early trends hold, ChatGPT Images 2.0 may not just be a tech upgrade but a cultural moment, giving millions a new visual language to play with online.
