News Broadcasting
Balaji’s V Devarajan joins Adlabs Films as CFO
MUMBAI: Anil Ambani is busy poaching executives from rival media organisations. The latest to join Adlabs Films Ltd is Balaji Telefilms chief financial officer V Devarajan.
“We are taking in Devarajan as our CFO. He willl be joining us soon,” says a senior executive in Adlabs Films.
Devarajan joined Balaji Telefilms as CFO in 2002 and was responsible for putting in place processes that resulted in operational cost efficiencies.
Devarajan’s resignation as Balaji CFO was effective 9 May and India’s leading soap factory moved swiftly to put in a replacement. Sandeep Jain takes over from the departing Devarajan as the new Balaji CFO with immediate effect.
Adlabs is in a major expansion spree and is ramping up its film exhibition and production businesses. The company recently bought out the entire stake of Mukta Arts in a joint venture company for digital distribution of movies.
Adlabs Films’ board recently approved the proposal for demerger of its FM radio business to a wholly owned subsidiary, Adlabs Radio Pvt Ltd. Adlabs plans to list the new entity on the stock exchange.
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.
