News Broadcasting
CNN’s US election contest offers a trip to Hong Kong
MUMBAI: One of the most news worthy events of the year the US Elections are around the corner. CNN has launched an online and SMS based marketing initiative ‘US Election 2004 Poll’ competition.
The aim is to engage viewers in the 2004 race for the White House by offering participants an opportunity to win a trip for two to CNN’s Asia Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong.
Viewers across the country can cast their vote on which presidential candidate they think should win by visiting the web site on http://www.raceforwhitehouse.com and share their top foreign policy ideas or SMS ‘CNN’ to 4646.
The best entry to the competition will be selected as the winner. Prizes to the winners comprise of two round-trip airline tickets from India to Hong Kong, night stays at a hotel and a visit to CNN’s regional headquarters in Hong Kong.
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.
