News Broadcasting
AXN looks at paranormal phenomenon with ‘Supernatural’
MUMBAI: The action oriented AXN will be a new show Supernatural. It will air every Thursday from 3 August at 11 pm
The show blends action, drama, mystery with a dash of science-fiction. Supernatural is a tale of two brothers, bound by destiny and disaster to battle the evil forces of the paranormal. Poles apart, the Winchester brothers are compelled to travel all around the country to hunt out the eerie creatures of urban legends and folklore that you thought were all just made-up.
When their mother, Mary, was taken from the family 20 years ago by unseen evil forces, the brothers’ father John embarked on a mission against the supernatural to avenge his wife’s death. Bringing the two young boys with him on his strange missions, John brought them up to hunt and fight the unexplained – whether they wanted to or not.
Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) is the younger brother – the “normal” one. A law student trying to escape the eccentric lifestyle his father mapped out, Sam gladly traded his ghost-hunting for college and a perfect girlfriend, and hasn’t seen his brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) for 4 years. When the latter turns up suddenly on Sam’s doorstep with the news that their father has vanished, he has little choice but to join Dean in a search for their father.
Supernatural is about fate, family and the choices we make – taking viewers into the dark and twisted world of phantom-hunting. In between the undercurrents of rivalry, the estranged brothers learn more about themselves and their family, and face up to a journey in which anything can happen – and does.
The younger Winchester brother, Sam never fully understood the path his father and brother have taken, and consequently has tried to separate himself from them by leaving for college straight from high school. With an affectionate and caring girlfriend and a potential law career, Sam almost has the perfect life he yearns for, until his estranged older brother turns up at his door with news that their father has disappeared.
Despite the dislike for his family’s strange lifestyle, Sam is obliged to leave his peaceful life, and return to his tumultuous destiny in a search for his missing father. Armed with heavy reluctance and grounded practicality, Sam is thrown into the sinister world he tried so hard to avoid – and while chasing bogeymen, phantom legends and angry child spirits, comes to relearn more about his brother and himself, and begins to accept the fate and father he rejected.
Worlds apart from his brother Sam, Dean has taken his father’s mission on himself – pursuing all things supernatural and evil. Arrogant, brash and impulsive, the older Winchester brother’s fearlessness and indifference to the law in the face of his quest belie the emotional scars his mother’s death left on him, as well as an unexpected softer side.
Dean is older and thus remembers more of his mother’s death, and understands why his father was driven obsessively to avenge himself on the paranormal. This bad-boy carries his fierce aggression into his work, and is wild enough to do just about anything, especially taking on the terrifying path he has chosen for himself. His father’s sudden vanishing however leaves him unsettled, and forces him to come out of his strange life to reunite with his younger brother for a quest unlike any they have ever experienced before.
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.
