News Broadcasting
Aaj Tak sets new viewership record in Week 9
MUMBAI: India’s leading Hindi news channel Aaj Tak on Thursday added another feather to its cap in week 9 of 2019 as per the BARC data released to its subscribers.
According to Aaj Tak, it fared better than Hindi GECs during the four-day period when the national discourse was dominated by India’s air strikes in Balakot and the news surrounding wing commander Abhinandan’s capture and return to India.
When it came to news channels, Aaj Tak commanded more than 40 per cent higher viewership than its closest competitor in week 9. Interestingly, that margin went up 47% in the last four days. According to the channel, it reached 21 crore consumers in week 9 across genres.
Aaj Tak dominated the chart with 4,62,693 impression ‘000s in week 9, followed by ABP News on the second position with 3,30,055 impression ‘000s. During the last four days, Aaj Tak remained in pole position with 3,30,055 impression ‘000s.
“Since demonetisation in November 2016, Hindi news has been going up. The numbers that we saw last week have been tremendous. Nearly half of the Hindi speaking market in India, which is about 280 million people, watched Hindi news. Normally people watch 40 minutes of Hindi news per day, this week they watched 68 minutes daily. All the channels did a good job of covering the events, and hence the numbers,” BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta told Aaj Tak.
Aaj Tak says it was the no.1 TV channel in India, beating the likes of Star plus, Star Sports Hindi and Sun TV, on the day wing commander Abhinandan returned to India (Source: BARC, Market: India, TG:2+, Date: 01st March'19, Gross Impression in 000s)
News Broadcasting
Parikshit Luthra exits CNBC-TV18 after 20-year run
Former bureau chief to take brief pause before next role
NEW DELHI: Senior journalist Parikshit Luthra has signed off from CNBC-TV18, marking 28 February 2026 as his final day and closing nearly two decades with Network18 Media & Investments Limited, including eight years at the business news channel.
During his tenure, Luthra interviewed prominent business leaders and Union ministers, reporting on economic policy, corporate strategy, the automobile sector and financial markets. His coverage spanned key inflection points in India’s economic narrative.
He also led new programming formats such as Newscentre, Global Eye and Global Lens, shows that examined politics and foreign policy through an economic prism, reflecting the channel’s push towards globally linked business reporting.
In a LinkedIn post, Luthra said his final weeks were spent covering the Union Budget, the India AI Summit, India’s trade agreements with the US and EU, and the group’s flagship Rising Bharat Summit 2026. He added that he continued anchoring until his last day and briefly met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his closing assignments.
Luthra joined CNBC-TV18 in June 2018 as assistant editor, later rising to senior editor and chief of bureau, a position he held for over two years. Before that, he worked with Republic TV and CNN-News18.
He said he plans to take a short break before embarking on his next professional chapter.
