News Broadcasting
15 months after arrest, apex court grants bail to Bharat Shah
Fifteen months after big-time film financier and diamond trader Bharat Shah was incarcerated due to his alleged connections to the underworld, the Supreme Court garanted him bail yesterday.
Shah was arrested on 8 January 2001 for his alleged links with underworld mafia don Chhota Shakeel under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
The Supreme Court directed Shah to furnish a bail bond of Rs 100,000 and two sureties of like amount and directed him to surrender his mobile phone to investigating agencies. Shah’s passport, which was surrendered to the trial court, will not be released without the court’s permission.
The Supreme Court has ordered an expeditious trial in the case.
At that time of his arrest, the Mumbai police exposed his alleged connections with Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel in the making of the film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke.
Shah’s links to B4U Multimedia, in which he had a 92 per cent stake, forced B4U to transfer all its assets and functions to another group company B4U Television Networks on 1 April 2001.
Shah holds no equity in B4U Television networks. B4U Multimedia was in fact another name for Shah’s own company VIP enterprises and had been promoted to further the B4U’s plans to come out with an IPO.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
