News Broadcasting
Bhaskar Group appoints Bikash Banerjee as head of business – West & South
MUMBAI: The Bhaskar Group has appointed Bikash Banerjee as head of business for West and South India. Spearheading the Group’s publications Banerjee will be responsible for marketing, sales and revenues of Dainik Bhaskar (South and West) and Divya Bhaskar (South) in these regions and will be based in Mumbai.
He will replace Harrish M Bhatia who is moving on to Synergy Media, the radio venture of the company (MYFM 94.3), as Senior VP and business group head and will operate from Delhi.
With 20 years of experience in marketing and sales, prior to the Bhaskar Group Banerjee has worked with ABP, Mid Day Multimedia Ltd, Vibrant Media (a joint venture of ABCL and Mudra) and Business Standard.
Banerjee said, “I am delighted to join the group. The job is challenging, but with my experience and the outstanding track record of the group, I am sure of achieving great results.”
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.
