News Broadcasting
A repeat show for IBN Lokmat as Q1 net loss stands at Rs 40 million
MUMBAI: IBN Lokmat, the joint venture company that runs the Marathi news channel, is still bleeding as its revenue stays flat even after completing three years of operations.
The company has posted a net loss of Rs 40 million for the first quarter of the fiscal, similar to what it had registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. In the trailing quarter, however, IBN Lokmat had reported a net loss of Rs 60 million.
The main problem area for IBN Lokmat is that in a market which has two strong players – Zee 24 Taas and Star Majha- the channel’s revenue seems to have hit a ceiling while it has failed to curb expenses.
Revenue for the quarter ended 30 June stood at Rs 40 million, same as the year-ago period. In the trailing quarter, revenue was Rs 30 million.
IBN Lokmat’s quarter expenses stood at Rs 70 million, up from Rs 60 million the company incurred in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. In the trailing quarter, expenses were at Rs 80 mllion.
The channel’s Ebitda loss remained at Rs 30 million, same as the year-ago period, but less than the trailing quarter (Rs 60 million).
IBN Lokmat was launched in March 2008 as a joint venture between Network18 Group and Lokmat.
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.
