News Broadcasting
CNN-IBN launches special series on ‘Retail Revolution’
MUMBAI: CNN-IBN is launching a special series ‘Retail Revolution’ on the booming retail business in India. The week long series will look at the distinctly transforming face of retail, with a special focus on its effects on the towns and villages across the country.
Retail Revolution will feature stories on issues that include the impact of retail prosperity on farmers; changes in rural households; the fate of small-scale traders; people’s changing eating and shopping habits; availability of big brands in small-towns, and the altering landscape of leisure and entertainment retail with the proliferation of multiplexes.
CNN-IBN and IBN 7 editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai said, “The pattern of consumption, both amongst urban and rural Indians, is changing at a rapid pace. ‘Retail Revolution’, therefore, is our attempt at providing an insight into this fascinating and dynamic phenomenon that is affecting consumers, traders and industries alike.”
CNN-IBN and IBN 7 national sales head Sanjay Dua said, “The series is bound to draw interest from all segments of our audience as ‘retail’ is something that touches everyone – whether a housewife, teenager, businessman, or any other. Therefore, those choosing to advertise with us will find this property particularly lucrative.”
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.
