News Broadcasting
BBC World Service plans tribute for Tsunami affected regions
MUMBAI: Six months have passed since the natural disaster Tsunami affected Indonesia, The Maldives, Sri Lanka and Somalia. The BBC World Service is launching The Tsunami Audio Memorial, a project aimed at creating an audio tribute to the region
The BBC is asking people who live in the Southern Asian region which was affected by the Tsunami, visited it or have family there, to contact them via a dedicated phone line and email address and send in their audio recordings.
Over the next six months, BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Asian Network will be gathering sounds and stories that evoke the colour, vibrancy and diversity of the region, as well as the events of 26 December 2004 and their aftermath.
These will be crafted into a series of programmes to be broadcast on the networks at the end of the year. The BBC is hoping that the resulting audio database will find a home and be accessible to anyone as a living memorial. The BBC states that the inspiration for the project comes from the Sonic Memorial Project in the US.
After the 9/11 attacks four years ago National Public Radio had asked American listeners to contribute their sounds and stories about the World Trade Center.
The areas affected by the Tsunami are rich in sound. Whether the evocations are of Indonesian fishermen bringing in their early morning catch, conch shells being blown at dawn or the cacophony of a traffic-filled street in Thailand – or stories and sounds related to the tsunami itself, such as mobile phone messages, holiday videos or the noise of reconstruction – the aim of the BBC’s Tsunami Audio Memorial project is to commemorate the region and its people.
BBC World Service editor world programmes Maria Balinska says, “This is a very exciting and ambitious project. By reaching out to people all over the world, we hope to create a fitting tribute to those affected by the tsunami tragedy.”
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.
