News Broadcasting
Channel [V] jams with Jimmy Amarnath for World Cup song
MUMBAI: Channel [V] had, thus far, distanced itself from the ongoing World Cup frenzy. But seems like the channel has finally decided to cash on the cricket fever.
Amidst the slew of World Cup music videos currently on air will be Channel [V]’s musical feat with Mohinder ‘Jimmy’ Amarnath.
Star’s music branch has roped in the former cricketer Amarnath for a music video designed to be a morale booster for the Indian cricket team. With the most successful world cup, that of 1983, to his credit Amarnath, will be a good candidate to convey the special message to the team in South Africa.
The video, which premiered last week, has Amarnath singing Aye Watan while wandering through an empty stadium, reliving the glorious past of Indian Cricket. The patriotic song from the film Shaheed has been remixed by the music director Sandeep Chowta and the video has been directed by Channel [V]’s Vishal Mal.
The video that captures scenes from India’s World Cup triumph in 1983 and memorable moments from past world cup featuring cricketer’s from Sunny Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar will be on run during the World Cup.
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.
