News Broadcasting
BBC to cover Barack Obama’s India visit live
MUMBAI: BBC World News’ ‘Global with Matthew Amroliwala’ and BBC World Service’s international debate and discussion show ‘World Have Your Say’ will broadcast live from Delhi marking India’s Republic Day and US President Barack Obama’s visit.
Global’s three days of live broadcasts, from 26 to 28 January, come as BBC’s international services launch a three month season of new content across TV, radio and online, which includes a raft of India focused programming.
BBC World Service’s international debate and discussion show ‘World Have Your Say’ will be broadcast from Delhi on 30 January.
The season opens with a live TV debate from the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland on 23 January, 2015 on BBC World News TV and then will move around the world offering a huge variety of programmes, online reports, news features, graphics, short films, social media call-outs and debates across January, February and March.
Life in emerging markets such as China, India and countries across Africa will be put in the spotlight together with more established economic powers such as the USA.
With a dedicated website at bbc.com/richerworld, a hashtag #bbcricherworld and features on the Facebook pages, the services’ global audience will be encouraged to participate.
Whether it’s sharing the contents of their fridges to discuss consumption patterns, suggesting the best night clubs in East Africa or taking part in radio or TV debates their experiences and thoughts will be represented.
World Service Group director Fran Unsworth said, “The Richer World Season brings together the best of our international services to provide dynamic, engaging content for our 265 million viewers and listeners around the world. With projects such as Soup and Fridgeonomics the teams bring creative new angles to hard and soft news stories that affect people around the world. The BBC occupies a unique position – only we have the worldwide expertise, from our World Service journalists to our global news gathering teams, to deliver seasons like this.”
Highlighting the BBC’s Indian content, BBC Global News COO Naveen Jhunjhunwala said, “The BBC has been broadcasting to and from India since the 1930s – people started relating to BBC via the World Service Radio, and we were one of the first to broadcast news. We are very proud of our channel’s heritage here and our continuing relationship with Indian viewers. This season of dynamic, engaging content delivered across all platforms reaffirms our editorial and business commitment to this important market, as we work to tell the Indian story around the world.”
The highlighting points for India are:.
Fridgeonomics: As research suggests about two thirds of India’s population do not have a fridge, WS’s The Food Chain and World Have Your Say together with WN Talking Business examine what food and access to fridges say about changing wealth, consumption and lifestyles. “World Have Your Say” will host a radio debate in India presented by Anu Anand on 30 January, 2015 while former editor of Focus On Africa will be exploring how fridges are changing Africa in a special radio documentary.
Tata: India’s Global Giant TV and radio documentary with accompanying online feature takes a look at an India’s largest and most global company with a reputation for ethical capitalism. As Tata funds a day of sport for British school children it’s an intriguing sign of our changing times. Tata has turned around Jaguar and is shoring up Europe’s steel-making industry with its purchase of the Anglo-Dutch Corus group in 2008. It now earns 70 per cent of its revenue overseas.
Living India: A three part radio series by Rupa Jha explores the new India through the lives of ordinary people and asks why so many people are still living in poverty, without basic amenities and whether a change of government is offering any hope to the silent majority.
Witness: In 1998, India’s first call centre business opened. It was the birth of a huge new industry for the country, which now employs hundreds of thousands of Indians. Pramod Bhasin was the businessman who opened the first call centre. He will be seen speaking to “Witness” it will be followed by another edition by Justin Rowlatt presenting five stories of “our times” told by the people who were there. This edition explores Goan Independence, the last days of the Raj, the Partition of India, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the epic TV series Ramayan with those who witnessed events first hand.
The Birth of Empire: The East India Company – Dan Snow will travel throughout India in the footsteps of the company that revolutionised the British lifestyle and laid the foundations of today’s global trading systems.
Our World: Bringing “Back Business” – From Walmart to Apple, from Colorado to California, companies across the United States say they are bringing jobs back from overseas. As wages rise in countries such as China and India the show will debate, if the tide turning on one of the biggest trends in globalisation – the outsourcing of work from the rich to the developing world.
Global with Matthew Amroliwala: The flagship daily TV show to be the home of the Richer World season on BBC World News, with guests and discussions around the key themes, including three days of live broadcasting from Delhi.
Talking Business with Linda Yueh: Featuring reports and discussions including Fridgeonomics.
Indian Business Report: Weekly look at all aspects of the country’s rapidly developing economy.
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.
