News Broadcasting
Asianet News Digital launches Marathi platform in Mumbai in the presence of Hon. Dy. CM Devendra Fadnavis
Mumbai: Asianetnews.com, the digital platform of Asianet News Media and Entertainment Private Limited (ANMEPL) has launched its eighth language platform in Marathi. The launch happened on 5 December, 2023 at the Press Club in Mumbai.
Hon. Dy. CM of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Other eminent personalities such as Shri Dr. Ramnath Sonawane, Secretary, Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority, Shri Pravin Dabas, Actor and Director and Smt. Preeti Jhangiani, Actor and Producer, were also present for this historic occasion.
Asianetnews.com is already present in Malayalam, Kannada, English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Bangla. With the launch of Marathi, the group’s digital news media has spread its wings to the West as it aims to expand its footprint nationally and globally.
Asianetnews.com’s strong brand credibility and deep regional insights provides the edge to source and deliver content like none other. Asianetnews.com Marathi will target to become the go-to destination for focused news and video content in Maharashtra.
Hon. Dy. CM Shri Devendra Fadnavis stressed about the need for genuine news providers such as Asianet News to clamp down on fake content, especially the threat posed by AI-based platforms such as Deepfake and other similar Indian apps. He highlighted the role that digital media has to play to curb the spread of misinformation and help deliver credible news to the Marathi diaspora and help shape the opinion of the society.
Rajesh Kalra, Executive Chairman Asianet News Group spoke about the thought process behind this development. “With Maharashtra having the third most internet penetration in the country, Marathi is obviously a key language for Bharat. When we were looking at expanding into other languages, Marathi was a unanimous choice. We aim to be the most trusted source of news for Maharashtrians and provide a platform that disseminates high-quality content,” he said.
Neeraj Kohli, Chief Executive Officer, Asianet News Group elaborated, “We are aiming to replicate the success of our other 7 languages to Marathi and justify the faith put in us by the people of Maharashtra. Our focus has always been on providing our audience with the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and honest coverage from the ground.”
Samarth Sharma, the group Chief Operating Officer, “We will be putting all our efforts to deliver ‘Straight, Bold, Relentless,’ news coverage to the Marathi diaspora spread across the world. With a strong team of journalists working round the clock, our news bureau is set to establish Asianet News Marathi as the most trusted source of news,” Samarth Sharma, COO Asianet News Group highlighted the company’s mission and ideology behind the Marathi platform launch.
AsianetNews.com is a leading news platform, which caters to 80 Mn monthly active users across its 7 languages. With Marathi added to its growing portfolio, it is set to expand its footprint across the country as well as the world.
The ANN group (Asianet News Network) has a multi-media presence across the country in multiple languages via its TV Channels (Asianet News and Asianet Suvarna News), Print Publication (Kannada Prabha), Music platform (IndigoMusic.com), and Digital platforms in 8 languages (AsianetNews.com and MyNation.com).
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.
