News Broadcasting
CNBC- TV 18 buttresses evening line-up
MUMBAI: “Evenings” are going to be special at CNBC- TV 18.
The business channel has announced a programming revamp with a special focus on a special evening band – from 6:30 pm to 11 pm. As part of the initiative, the channel will air a number of new and redesigned programmes in the morning, day, and evening and weekend bands. To bolster the evenings, the channel has brought in two heavyweight anchors to host two current affairs programmes.
The channel has decided to replace Business@ 10 with Tonight at 10, an incisive current affairs show anchored by Karan Thapar. The Monday to Thursday show will debut on Monday 8 March 2004 at 10:00 pm. While veteran journalist MJ Akbar will host Encounter on Fridays, which will premiere on Friday 21 March 2004 at 10:00 pm.
Besides the current affairs line up, the channel will also be focusing on international news from across the globe and revamped markets wrap-up coverage in the evening band, says a company release.
Tonight at 10 with Thapar is a news reactive show where viewers will witness the ace journalist in in-depth discussions with the guests of the day on the latest business, political, economic and current affairs issues in the country. The viewers will also be able to call in and post their opinions and queries.
While eminent journalist and political commentator, M J Akbar will Encounter personalities that will shape the nation’s destiny in the half hour weekly programme every Friday. The special invitees for the rendezvous include the likes of LK Advani, Chandrababu Naidu and Pramod Mahajan. The programme will be shot on location. Looking at the current flavour of the month, the show will have a distinct “campaign trail” flavour, as the elections draw near.
According to CNBC-TV18 vice president sales and marketing B Saikumar, “Business today straddles all walks of life and this is reflected in our programming. We have tried to cater to the needs of our discerning viewers by strengthening the evening band with a stronger dose of a) business news b) international news c) business talk shows like Cutting Edge and Managing India d) current affairs shows like Encounter and Tonight at Ten and e) features like Storyboard and Trendmill. There is an overwhelming leadership’ for CNBC-TV18 in this segment and this band is clearly aimed at strengthening our leadership position further.”
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.
