News Broadcasting
BBC World Service to kick off roadshow in Northern India from Thursday
MUMBAI: BBC World Service has announced that its radio service BBC Hindi hopes to meet more than 20,000 listeners in a series of roadshow events across three states in Northern India. From tomorrow 16 November to Monday 25 December, Your world, your voice is taking BBC Hindi teams to 14 towns across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkand, engaging audiences in lively debates broadcast live on the BBC, together with other activities, including street theatre and website demonstrations.
The debates have been inspired by local residents who took part in specially-commissioned research. Conducted by the Delhi-based rural research agency, Prastut Consulting, the research is based on interviews with decision-makers and residents at each of the roadshow locations and gives the BBC invaluable insights into what really matters to its audiences in India’s heartland.
BBC Hindi head Achala Sharma says, “We always keep our hand on the pulse of India: what concerns them, what their expectations are, what they want to change in their lives. The special research we commissioned this year is a real treasure trove, giving us first-hand information which will form the basis of our roadshow debates as well as our programming in general.
“All those interviewed for this research said that they see the BBC as being able to influence change. That’s why we are looking forward to meeting our audiences in this roadshow.”
Connecting with local culture, the BBC uses traditional Kalamkari artwork throughout the Your world, your voice roadshow. Street theatre will open each event with a dramatised demonstration of the values and benefits of listening to the BBC. There will also be demonstrations of the bbchindi.com website. Simultaneously, BBC World Service has organised purely promotional activity in 34 towns of the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Rajasthan using the campaign imagery and messages.
BBC Hindi programmes are produced from studios in London and New Delhi and are set in a rolling format, with news, current affairs and features. The interactive morning and evening programmesAaj Ke Din and Aaj Kal, bring the BBC Hindi listeners news, analysis and interviews on issues, from current affairs and careers to showbiz and sports.
BBC Hindi is available on short wave and medium wave radio and via cable television.
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.
