News Broadcasting
Balaji to foray into other genres; start Sharjah operations
MUMBAI: The country’s most successful soap factory is looking to spread its sphere of activity into new content terrain. In its latest annual report, Balaji Telefilms has announced its intent to expand into animation and mythological programming, among other new initiatives. Further it announced at its annual general meeting (AGM) today that it would be starting a wholly owned subsidiary at Sharjah for production of serials for the Middle East market.
Balaji has a confirmed order for one and negotiations are on for more serials with different channels, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was informed today. The Sharjah unit is expected to be operational by the first week of November, the posting with the BSE states.
Managing director and CEO Shobha Kapoor, while reviewing the company’s performance, says, “For years, the Balaji brand has been associated with soap content. We expect to evolve this into new business lines like animation, non-fiction content, ad films and mythological programmes. We are optimistic that with India emerging as an attractive outsourcing hub for animation, our established infrastructure and industry position will serve as a relevant foundation for growth in this new area.”
Balaji Telefilms, which had entered the reality show genre with Kosmiic Chat and Kandy Floss, plans to reinforce this with non fiction content programmes like Karmiic Connection and Karbon Copy in 2006-07.
The company produced 2113 hours of live action programming in 2005-2006 generating revenues of Rs 2.69 billion and net profit of Rs 594.2 million. This was buoyed greatly by the company’s realisation per hour of commissioned shows to Rs 2.2 million up from Rs 1.7 million last year. It is reportedly sitting with oodles of cash and looking for new investment avenues.
The company invested Rs 131.7 million in captive equipment, three studios, and editing infrastructure in 2005-2006. The company is also reportedly drawing up plans to start a media educational academy in Pune.
Today’s AGM also aproved the re-appointment of Akshay Chudasama and Pradeep Sarda as directors of the company. The re-appointment of Deloitte Haskins & Sells and Snehal & Associates as joint auditors was also passed during the meeting.
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.
