News Broadcasting
DD-Nimbus shines in all India homes, fails in metros
MUMBAI: Whatever may be the scene in C&S homes, in the all-India market Doordarshan rules. It has been no different for the ongoing ICC World Cup 2003.
For the first three cricket World Cup 2003 matches, DD delivered consistently higher viewership as compared to MAX in the all homes segment, TAM data released by Nimbus says.
A closer look at the ratings shows that DD hasn’t fared well in South India and metros in all India homes. It also fails to make a dent in the C&S households whereas MAX has made gains even in the all-India home markets.
Nimbus Communications senior vice president – TV and sports Sunil Manocha was quoted in a press release as saying: “So far all our estimates and projections in terms of the audience shares and our revenue targets have been right. With the combined advantages of great and innovative scheduling, clear focus on cricket and a world class feed; Doordarshan is all set to emerge the clear winner on ratings and revenues in this cricket World Cup.”
All India
Date
Match
DD1 TVR
Satellite channel TVR
DD reach advantage in per cent
9 Feb 2003
South Africa vs W. Indies
3.6
3.4
6
12 Feb 2003
India vs Holland
6.9
5.4
27
15 Feb 2003
India vs Australia
6.5
5.1
27
Tam India, all homes, all individuals
In fact, the India-Holland and India-Australia match featured on the ninth and tenth positions in the Top 100 programmes list for all India market 4 years plus. The India-Australia match on MAX was placed at the nineteenth position in the Top 100 list for all homes 4 years plus.
DD has a total of 15 cricket related programmes in the Top 100 list whereas MAX had a total of nine programmes in the Top 100 list for all India 4 years plus homes. DD doesn’t feature in the C&S Top 100 list at all. In fact, the West Indies-South Africa, New Zealand-West Indies and Pakistan-Australia matches featured in the Top 100 list in addition to the matches involving India.
The Nimbus release states that DD’s plans for telecasting the 16 ‘Big Gun’ live matches including all India matches and a match every weekend, has paid rich dividends in all the key markets like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Eastern India.
– Doordarshan fares well as compared to the satellite channel in the prosperous markets of Maharashtra, UP, MP, Punjab and Gujarat, say Nimbus officials. However, TAM data says that DD is behind in the Gujarat market.
– South India, the market with highest C&S penetration – Doordarshan averages a 15 per cent higher viewership, claims a Nimbus release. However a closer look reveals that DD has taken a beating in rest of Andhra Pradesh 1 million plus towns including Hyderabad; in Tamil Nadu including Chennai; Karnataka including Bangalore. However, DD fared well in Kerala.
– Doordarshan wins the race over the satellite channel in Kolkata, states the Nimbus release. However, DD lags behind in all the other metros. However, in the India-Australia match, DD scored over MAX in Chennai bu lagged behind in the other two matches.
All India 4 years plus India vs Australia
Region
DD1 TVR
Satellite channel
DD advantage in per cent
North/West
Maha rest
15.7
4.3
265
MP 1 mn +
8.8
1.8
388
UP rest 0.1 to 1 mn
6.2
1.8
244
UP rest 1 mn +
7.2
3.9
85
PHCHP 1mn +
3.3
2.8
18
Guj 1 mn +
5.1
5.6
-8
South
AP rest 1 mn +
3.0
4.3
-30
AP rest 0.1 to 1 mn
3.4
3.9
-13
TN rest 1 mn +
3.3
5.7
-42
TN rest 0.1 to 1 mn
1.7
2.8
-39
Kar rest 0.1 mn to 1 mn
4.6
5.8
-21
Ker 1 mn +
7.1
3.9
82
Metros
Kolkata
11.1
10.3
7
Delhi
4.4
4.4
0
Hyderabad
4.4
5.3
-17
Chennai
3.5
3.3
6
Bangalore
3
7.1
-58
Mumbai
4.4
7.6
-42
All India
6.5
5.1
27
Tam India, all India, all individuals for India-Australia match
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.
