News Broadcasting
CNBC holds discussion on ‘Managing Consolidation in the Banking Industry’
MUMBAI: CNBC-TV18 and Oracle together held a discussion on the issue of ‘Managing Consolidation in the Banking Industry’ in Mumbai recently.
This first of its kind roundtable explored the challenges of consolidation in the banking industry from the business angle, the employee standpoint, the customer’s point of view, the technological angle as well as the impact of Basel II on the Banking Industry.
‘Managing Consolidation in the Banking Industry’ proved that the business realities together with the finance ministry can make consolidation inevitable. The forum also revealed that ‘Preparing for consolidation’ was the need for businesses earlier but the new environment throws in fresh challenges for banks to test the veracity of the concept of consolidation.
Eminent panelists who took part in the discussion were, Union Bank of India CMD Cherian Varghese, Oriental Bank of Commerce CMD BD Narang, Dena Bank CMD Anil Khandelwal, Yes Bank MD and CEO Rana Kapoor, ICICI Bank DMD Kalpana Morparia, Deloitte Touche Tomatsu ED Ashwin Parekh, Asia Pacific Oracle Corporation vice president financial services Alan G Payne and McKinsey director Leo Puri.
Morparia said, “Today, the top five banks constitute 43 per cent of the total banking market. Mergers are inevitable because of concentration in the segments. Mergers happen because they make business sense not because they are a good thing to do.”
Kapoor, on the other hand, said, “Small is beautiful. Small comes without legacy. We have the freedom to put robust systems in place. There is an opportunity now for the launch of private banks who need financial support. There is also opportunity for aggregation to take place, however, somebody needs to take the initiative. Also, catalytic forces need not necessarily be foreign. Enough potential exists within our country. New forces will eventually emerge.”
Commenting at the forum CNBC-TV18 vice president sales and marketing B Sai Kumar said, “Consolidation in the banking business has finally become a reality. Until recently, it was more of ‘Preparing for consolidation’ but has now become quite imminent. CNBC-TV18 aims at bringing to the fore the effect of the inevitable consolidation of banks, on people from different walks of life. Through this forum, CNBC-TV18 stands by its effort at empowering Indians to make informed decisions and improving their quality of life.”
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.
