News Broadcasting
BBC World presenter Karan Thapar wins Asian Television Award
MUMBAI: Karan Thapar, presenter of BBC World’s popular weekly chat show Face to Face, has been named ‘Best Current Affairs Presenter’ at the Asian Television Awards which were held in Singapore.
Face to Face is a programme on BBC World that features captivating interviews with celebrities from all walks of life. Previous guests include Sachin Tendulkar, Shahrukh Khan, Zakir Hussain, Ratan Tata and Madhuri Dixit. The winning episode which won the accolade at the Asian Television Award featured Radha, Raja and Kaushalya Reddy and was broadcast in February this year.
Previously, Face to Face has showcased great personalities such as Alyque Padamsee, Nafisa Ali, David Davidar and Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. Among those featured in a special series on the arts were Hari Kunzru, Jatin Das, Shovana Narayan, Ustad Vilayat Khan and Usha Uthup.
Commenting on the award, an elated Thapar said, “I am honoured to have received this award and feel the credit should go to the show and the team that puts it together. Over the years, Face to Face has attained enormous success and popularity amongst viewers. BBC World provides a perfect showcase for some of the biggest personalities in the Indian market.”
The Asian Television Awards, now in their eighth year, were instituted to recognise talent in the TV industry in countries such as China, Hong Kong, India and Sri Lanka.
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.
