News Broadcasting
CNN announces finalists for ‘CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute’
MUMBAI: US news broadcaster CNN has announced the names of 18 finalists for CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute. This marks the culmination of a five-month audience nomination process through which ordinary people will be recognised for accomplishing extraordinary things.
Hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour, “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute will air live globally on CNN/US, CNN International and CNN en Espanol on 6 December.
In its first year of the CNN Heroes initiative, CNN received more than 7,000 nominations from viewers in 80 countries, nominating people from more than 90 countries.
Honorees will be announced at the gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, which will include performances from Grammy Award winners Mary J. Blige and Sheryl Crow and a duet by Grammy Award winner Norah Jones and acclaimed performer-producer Wyclef Jean. Presenters will include Tyra Banks, Glenn Close, Harry Connick, Jr., Rosario Dawson, LL Cool J, Kyra Sedgwick and Jimmy Smits.
CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton says, “We are honoured to shine the spotlight on some of the world’s lesser known heroes with the help of an esteemed slate of performers and presenters. While other awards programmes venerate those who are already celebrated, we are recognising the unheralded, the ones who accomplish great things without the benefit of recognition.”
From May 1 through September, CNN Worldwide has featured everyday heroes across its television networks, digital services and at www.CNN.com/Heroes, encouraging viewers to nominate local heroes they deem deserving of recognition as a CNN Hero. The finalists in each of the six categories include:
* Medical Marvel – American Peter Kithene of Seattle, who founded a clinic in his native Kenya that has provided services to more than 18,000 patients. Las Vegas’ Ann McGee of Las Vegas, who started a transportation program to provide free medical flights for families with gravely ill children. India’s S.
Ramakrishnan is a quadriplegic man who runs one of India’s largest centers for the disabled, serving people from 330 surrounding villages.
* Young Wonder – Canadian Kayla Cornale developed a musical system to improve communications with autistic people. Dallas Jessup produced a video and an online programme designed to teach young women and girls how to escape an attacker. Josh Miller has established a student-run nonprofit group dedicated to motivating high school students of all backgrounds to succeed in school and life.
Fighting For Justice – Pablo Fajardo seeks to force one of the world’s largest oil corporations to pay more than $6 billion to clean up toxic waste in the Amazon rain forest. Rangina Hamidi founded a company that enables women in her native Afghanistan to make money from their intricate embroidery skills. Lynwood Hughes started a nonprofit group to help US veterans secure their disability benefits.
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.
