News Broadcasting
CNN debuts new evening programme ‘Asia Now’
MUMBAI: CNN is looking eastwards. It will be beefing up the Asian programme content with a new addition to the prime-time evening news program, Asia Now, to be launched on 11 August 2003.
In addition to the new launch the channel already had 30 hours of programming, including the acclaimed News Biz Today and popular Asian chat show, Talk Asia.
The 24-hour international news channel will present two, live one-hour editions of Asia Now at 9:30 pm and 12:30 pm throughout the week, says a company release. There will be news reports, along with live updates of the day’s leading news and business stories from across the region and around the world, aired on the show.
Co-anchored by veteran journalists Andrew Stevens and Veronica Pedrosa, stationed at CNN’s Asia headquarters in Hong Kong, Asia Now air a comprehensive mix of news and information with live breaking news and updates from CNN’s international team of correspondents, says the release. The show will also be tackling the background and analysis of major developments that impact the global marketplace.
Besides the show will wrap up the Asian business day and update viewers on the latest business and financial developments, with live reports on the European markets as they close and the opening of the New York Stock Exchange.
It will also include regular segments including ‘Tech Watch’, covering the latest developments in technology, and the ‘Challenging CEOs’ series of interviews with top business leaders.
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.
