News Broadcasting
Big B in a candid interview on Aaj Tak’s ‘Seedhi Baat’
NEW DELHI: The doyen of Indian cinema Amitabh Bachchan comes face to face with Prabhu Chawla on the various facets of his life on Seedhi Baat on Sunday, 11 April at 9:30 pm.
In a candid interview to Aaj Tak, Amitabh Bachchan talks about his 30 years in the film industry, his stint with politics and his association with Amar Singh and Anil Ambani.
Commenting on his ‘overexposure’ on TV and films in the past two years, Amitabh Bachchan said that he was doing all this work to pay back the debts that had been incurred by his company. All the proceeds from these assignments were going to his company so that all the creditors who had stood by him may be able to fully recover their money.
When quizzed on his relationship with Amar Singh, Bachchan said that he was a personal friend and part of the family. Bachchan considers Singh his younger brother and they have shared a very good relationship.
Talking about his stint in politics, the Big B says that he was a failure in politics. He did not have the elements of a successful politician. He had entered politics in support of Rajiv Gandhi and the bereaved Gandhi family. Later, in parliament, he realized that this was a folly.
Confirming that he was no longer as close to the Gandhi family as he was during Rajiv Gandhi’s time, Bachchan said that they have closed the door on him and the onus of taking this relationship further rests with the Gandhi family.
According to Bachchan, there was no financial implication to his friendship with either Amar Singh or Anil Ambani. All three shared a very personal rapport and he has never taken any sort of financial help from either of them. Speaking about Abhishek, he said that though Abhishek was still to realize his position in film industry, but his time would come and he would make his mark in the industry.
Speaking on actors entering politics and canvassing for various political parties, Bachchan said that this was a matter of personal choice, but he himself had no intentions of either entering politics or canvassing for any candidate.
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.
