News Broadcasting
APTN offers Saddam Hussein exclusive to Indian news channels
MUMBAI: Indian news television channels wanting to give their viewers a peek at whom the US calls the monster from Baghdad can do so now. Courtesy Associated Press Television News (APTN), the international video arm of the Associated Press.
APTN is offering the telecast rights to anyone wanting to air the recent interview of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by former British politician Tony Benn in Baghdad. The news agency has the international exclusive distribution rights of the interview.
An APTN spokesperson has asked broadcasters who want to use the footage to contact APTN’s library or aptn_library@ap.org.
APTN distributed the interview with Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader’s first interview since the 1991 Gulf War, at 5 pm – 5:40 pm GMT (repeated at 7:00 pm – 7:40 pm GMT) on Tuesday, 4 February 2003. In the UK, Channel 4 aired Tony Benn’s interviews with Hussein from 7 pm (GMT) onwards on 4 February 2003.
The network aired around 25 minutes of the hour-long interview during Channel 4 News which was anchored by Jon Snow.
It is understood that BBC was originally planning to buy the interview for broadcast on BBC Two, however talks with the Arab Television Network, the company which owns the rights to the piece, fell through after the corporation refused to pay more than the bare production costs.
Channel 4 refused to confirm how much it had paid for the interview — the first the dictator has given to a Westerner in 12 years — but sources pointed towards a five-figure sum.
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.
