News Broadcasting
BTVi hires Times’s Shetty & CNN IBN’s Pisharody, strengthens rev & strategy team
MUMBAI: BTVi – Business Television India has appointed Shilpa Shetty and Seema Pisharody to jointly work towards revenue generation for the channel. They will be closely working with the COO Megha Tata (Monica Tata) to drive the business news channel to strengthen the next level growth in India.
BTVi is reinforcing senior experienced people in the team to build a quality think tank with a focus on the revenue model of the channel. Anuj Katiyar, who has recently joined the team as the marketing & research head, has played an integral role in channel’s development in the past two months.
Shetty will be actively involved in the strategic planning for generating revenue for the channel. Shetty was last associated with the Times Network as the vice-president – revenue and was the national sales head for the Times Network cluster of channels for several verticals. Shetty was also associated with the Network18 group for 10 years.
On joining BTVi, Shetty said, “I felt it is an interesting opportunity that has come my way to lead BTVi and create a path towards success.”
Pisharody, in her role will be investing her expertise in crafting strategic approach for business development for the channel. Pisharody has over 15 years of experience in the media &entertainment industry with brands like Turner and Hindustan Times. Her last assignment was with CNN IBN, as the head of Branded Content for South region.
On the new role, Pisharody said, “BTVi is poised to be a game changer in the dynamic Business News segment. And I am excited to be part of this winning team.”
Welcoming them to the team, Tata said, “We believe that their expertise in the domain will be a valuable asset to the channel.”
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.
