News Broadcasting
CNN unveils coverage plans for Obama’s inauguration
MUMBAI: CNN will screen the inauguration of US President-elect Barack Obama. Airing on 20 January 2009 from 3.30 pm, the coverage includes the swearing-in ceremony at 10.30 pm and the inauguration parade.
The Inauguration of Barack Obama will kick off with live programming from Capitol Hill from 3.30 pm. Beginning at 8.30 pm, CNN’s coverage location will move to the Newseum where Blitzer and Cooper will be joined by senior political analysts Gloria Borger and David Gergen. Chief national correspondent John King will transport the network’s Magic Wall to a balcony inside the Newseum in order to illustrate traffic and hotspots around Washington. Also reporting from the Newseum, Campbell Brown will cover the day’s events and will moderate a panel with members of CNN’s Best Political Team on Television.
The Inauguration of Barack Obama will continue with a special edition of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on 21 January from 2.30 am to 5.30 am, which will include live coverage of the parade, as well as a recap of the day’s events. From 5.30 am to 10.30 am Campbell Brown and Anderson Cooper will continue live from Washington DC, with a special edition of Anderson Cooper 360? which will include live reporting from the 10 official inaugural balls. Larry King will then host a special edition of Larry King Live from the Washington, D.C. bureau from 10.30 am to 11.30 am.
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.
