News Broadcasting
Bloomberg Quint’s TV distribution head Priya Mukherjee moves to Republic
MUMBAI: Bloomberg Quint’s TV distribution head Priya Mukherjee has joined Arnab Goswami’s new TV and digital media venture Republic as the distribution head. Mukherjee will look after the entire distribution portfolio as Republic will be available across India and international markets.
Goswami has been recruiting catalysts for his team, who would make his new venture a comprehensive set-up for the new media landscape. Republic will be an independent platform for journalists and content professionals. The venture aspires to create a movement that will put the power of journalism into the hands of the citizens, and will be India’s first footprint into global journalism.
Commenting on Mukherjee onboarding his team, Republic founder Arnab Goswami said, “Priya is a professional with an outstanding track record. She is an emerging young leader in the television business. Priya will work closely with our CEO Vikas Khanchandani to take us into every home in the country.”
On her new role, Mukherjee said, “I believe Republic will play a significant role to revolutionise the news and current affairs genre cutting across segments of viewers and the public. This is going to be a wonderful journey.”
With an experience of 17 years in the media industry, Mukherjee has established an impressive track record of being part of launch teams of television channels across India, while successfully helping them make inroads in their genres. Mukherjee has built a stellar career with organisations such as Discovery Channel, One Alliance, Network 18 and Den Network.
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.
