News Broadcasting
Aaj Tak’s flanker channel Tez to focus on headline news
NEW DELHI: The Aroon Purie-promoted TV Today Network today formally launched its third channel, Tez, as a flanking strategy to provide headlines news in Hindi.
Additionally, it is also preparing the ground for the launch of a fourth channel, which would be metro-specific, by December-January 2006.
Tez, which was officially flagged off by information and broadcasting minister Jaipal Reddy, will be a 24-hour Hindi news channel that will aim at delivering news to the busy viewer who does not find enough time to devote to long and detailed news bulletins.
The channel will have shorter news wheels with back to back news and “no long winded discussions or unnecessary analysis.”
In short, as TV Today Network CMD Aroon Purie said at the inaugural function here, “Maximum news in minimum time.” Hence, the tag line of the channel is ‘Khabarein Phataphat’ (quick news).
“The channel has been designed in way that you can dip in and out without getting disappointed,” Purie said.
TV Today CEO G Krishnan said, “This step of launching the third news channel further strengthens our commitment to every stakeholder that we are truly the nation’s best news network.”
In a message to prospective advertisers, Krishnan claimed that Tez will further “increase the news pie as it will attract viewers who don’t have the time to view the entire news bulletin” and will augment the scope of deliverables that a viewer and advertiser can derive out of the network.
During his brief speech, Reddy remembered the day when TV Today’s flagship channel, Aaj Tak, used to be a news programme on pubcaster Doordarshan.
Tez’s other sibling is Headlines Today that is also designed to give headlines news.
Meanwhile, when Indiantelevision.com asked Krishnan about the reason behind Tez, he admitted that it’s a “flanking strategy” and is more or less akin to Headlines News where the thrust is on delivering news fast and without any fuss.
Asked about the network’s fourth channel, which would target the metros, Krishnan said it would happen, but “sometime next year” as “everything has its time.”
However, information available with Indiantelevision.com is that work on the fourth channel has started and the company is targeting a launch it some time by January 2006, if not earlier in December.
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: 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.
