News Broadcasting
Bill O’Reilly renews association with Fox News
MUMBAI: Bill O’Reilly has re-signed a multi-year deal with Fox News Channel (FNC) to continue hosting The O’Reilly Factor. Said Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, “Bill’s immense talent, intellect and raw convictions are an extremely rare combination in television and exemplify why The O’Reilly Factor has been the number one programme in cable news for more than a decade. He is a tremendous force in the business and has helped to make Fox News the success story it is today.”
Joining FNC in 1996, O’Reilly initially served as host of The O’Reilly Report, which was renamed The O’Reilly Factor when it moved to primetime in 1998.
O’Reilly is known for his anti-establishment stance. He said, “It’s been great fun in challenging the establishment and exposing the corruption across the nation. The Factor takes pride in holding people accountable and I especially look forward to the exciting news cycle ahead. Fox News has become the primary force in television news under Roger’s leadership and I’m delighted to continue there for years to come.”
Prior to joining FNC in 1996, he anchored the nationally syndicated programme, Inside Edition, for six years. His seasoned career in broadcast journalism also includes stints at CBS News, where he was awarded with an Emmy for outstanding investigative reporting, as well as ABC News’ World News Tonight, where his work was recognised with two National Headliner Awards for excellence in reporting.
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: 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.
