News Broadcasting
39th Report of Standing Committee on Communication Convergence Bill
The Standing Committee on telecom and IT, which submitted its report a few days ago to Parliament, has highlighted the fact some people who had deposed before it and sent information on the Bill had questioned the very need for such a piece of legislation at the moment.
Mahajan however sees the Bill being taken up for discussion by Parliament only during the Budget session and that too in the latter half of the session after the annual Budget of the country has been discussed.
We present here the full text of the 39 th report presented by the Standing Committee to Parliament –
Introduction
The Communication Convergence Bill, 2001
Preliminary
Communications Commission Of India
Objectives of the Commission
Powers, duties and functions of the Commission
Frequency Spectrum Management
Licence or registration
Special Provision in respect of certain services
Breach of terms and conditions of licence or registration civil liability and adjudication
Communication Appellate Tribunal
Officers and employees of the Commission and the Appellate Tribunal
Right of way for laying cables and erection of posts
Offences and Punishment
Miscellaneou
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:Â 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.
