News Broadcasting
CNN-IBN, IBN 7 trace 60 years of Indian cinema
MUMBAI: CNN-IBN and IBN 7 have launched a new series titled Splendid 60: Six Decades of Cinema as a part of their celebration of 60 years of India’s independence. It will be presented by Rajeev Masand on CNN-IBN at 10 pm and Amrapali Sharma on IBN 7 at 11 pm every Saturday.
The four-episode series will focus on the journey of Indian cinema along with some of the top filmmakers choosing their personal all-time favourite films of the last 60 years. The series will present special segments discussing – sexuality and the Hindi heroine, changing face of the Hindi film hero and growth of parallel cinema.
CNN-IBN and IBN 7 editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai said, “Six Decades of Cinema is an attempt to walk down memory lane and look at the most defining moments in Indian cinema. The viewers will thoroughly enjoy this recapitulation of one of their favourite pastimes.”
IBN 7 managing editor Ashutosh said, “The progression of Indian cinema has been anything but linear. The industry is enormous with several linguistic spheres that together reflect the richness of Indian culture. Six Decades of Cinema will follow this journey step by step and showcase its most defining moments.”
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.
