News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 dominates with 3.33 lakh peak concurrency during Ram Temple inauguration
Mumbai: The historical consecration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram Temple took place on Monday. According to latest data report provided by Databeings insights which was claimed in press release by CNN News 18, CNN-News18’s YouTube channel recorded a whopping 3.33 lakh peak concurrent viewership during the hour of Pran Pratishtha (12 p.m.-1 p.m.). Databeings helps digital media publishers and B2C brands to understand market trends and drive customer insights.
According to the Databeings data insights, CNN-News18 grabbed the top spot, leaving behind its competitors as per press release. In addition to that, as per data provided in release, during the 1 p.m. – 2 p.m slot, the audience was glued to CNN-News18 to watch the celebration at Ayodhya and speeches by prime minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh’s CM Yogi Adityanath, among others. CNN-News18 continued to stay on top with 3.2 lakh peak concurrency.
CNN-News18, Indian English news channel, launched its 100 hours of special, non-stop programming, titled ‘Ram Mandir for India’ ahead of the historic Ram Temple inauguration. As part of this special programming, CNN-News18’s anchors Anand Narasimhan and Shivani Gupta hosted live shows from Ayodhya, providing insights into the cultural, historical, and religious significance of the Ram Temple.
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: 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.
