News Broadcasting
BBC to air ‘Call Centre’ series on 12 February
BANGALORE: Starting 12 February, BBC World will present a seven-part series Call Centre filmed in an observational reality format. It is an exclusive behind-the-scene series looking at the growing Indian service industry.
Call Centre series will be broadcast every Sunday on BBC World at 11 am with an additional appointment to view at 10 PM
Observational reality (as opposed to customized or structured reality shows like Fame Gurukul, Indian Idol) was the theme that BBC followed when they showcased AIIMS at New Delhi for their theme series – Hospital and the Indian Army for their series Commando. Since ‘Bangalored’ has become a word synonymous with loss of jobs in the west, the new series is also meant for international audiences.
The series follows two professionals working for 24/7 customer, a call centre in Bangalore. Shalini Kalra is a 27-year old manager and Karthik Ranganth is a 22-year new recruit. It highlights a highly competitive industry which demands accent training for Indians who are learning to service clients from around the world. Karthik is training to develop a British accent in less than eight weeks while Shalini is trying to balance her U.S.-time job with her personal life.
Part of the India Business Report strand, the series chronicles their daily routine and highlights the key issues and challenges they face: emotional stress, adapting to foreign time zones, pressure from demanding clients and tackling the unpredictable crisis caused by hurricanes in the United States.
“We contacted a number of companies for the shoot, and all of them had riders such as limited access and other issues. 24/7 was the only company which allowed us unrestricted access and allowed us to put up our cameras as we wanted,” said Miditech president Niret Alva. Miditech is the production house for the series.
“The idea was conceived almost two years ago – we saw these young kids being driven around at late hours between Gurgaon and Delhi. A few broadcasters whom we approached were wary of the issue – the theme would not jell well in some of the countries they were present. BBC agreed to the idea, with certain conditions, of course,” said Niret.
“We had to keep in mind the confidentiality of 24/7 customers and the sensibilities of an international audience, as well as follow BBC’s mandate – hence throughout the seven episodes no name, 24/7 customer or nationality has been spoken of,” added Niret.
Miditech vice president south India operations Manira A Pinto says, “The programme has a unique approach and treatment and gives the viewer a feel of how this industry operates through the life and work of the two professionals. Produced in a docu-style, the programme is fast-paced and throws daily situations at experts like Kiran Karnik and Brinda Karat for comments and insights into the industry.”
A preview of the first episode was showcased in Bangalore today, which focused on a call center job aspirant right from the time of leaving home for interview tests and on an executive handling a mini-crisis. Woven in between are comments and interviews of mangers at 24/7 and Nasscom’s Kiran Karnik.
Both Shalini and Karthik said that they were quite comfortable with cameras probing into their lives day in and day out. “Only the first two or three days were we conscious of the cameras, soon we got used to them” said Shalini. The duo look forward to their tryst with fame starting on the Sunday after next.
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.
