News Broadcasting
DD far and away leader on news front: Quraishi
NEW DELHI: Amongst all the news channels, Doordarshan is way ahead of others even if all TV homes and cable and satellite homes are taken into account separately, Doordarshan’s director-general SY Quraishi has said.
Speaking at the first edition of the newly-introduced monthly award scheme (which carries cash awards for the winners apart from a plaque) last evening Quraishi, quoting TAM data, said that amongst all news channels between 8-9 pm, DD National had a viewer share of 92.21 per cent in all TV homes.
The data pertained to the 45th week ended 9 November, 2002.
Amongst C&S homes, with 15 years+ viewers, in the same time band, DD National news bulletins’ share was 57.38 per cent, Quraishi said.
The nearest rival to DD, if one can call it one, was Aaj Tak which had a viewers’ share of 4 per cent in all TV homes and 22.13 per cent in C&S homes.
In all TV homes, CNN’s share was 0.14 per cent, BBC World’s 0.14 per cent, CNBC India’s 0.29 per cent, Star News’ 0.86 per cent and Zee News’ 2.29 percent.
Stressing on the wide reach of DD, running 17-odd channels in various languages including Hindi, Quraishi said the “reach of DD is unmatched and advertisers and media planners should exploit this more effectively.”
To drive home his point, Quraishi said that even during 7-8 am time band, DD National’s share for the 5th week was much more than other news channels.
In all TV homes it was 92.08 per cent, while in C&S homes it was 62.04 pr cent. Again the nearest rival was Aaj Tak with 5.09 per cent and 24.27 per cent viewership share in all TV homes and C&S homes, respectively.
Meanwhile, dwelling on the award scheme, Prasar Bharati officials said that the main purpose of the awards was to encourage in-house productions and promote professionalism.
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.
