News Broadcasting
Elections fetch DD News Rs 20 m in revenues
MUMBAI: DD News has garnered advertising revenues of Rs 20 million from the coming Lok Sabha elections.
The news channel from pubcaster Doordarshan’s fold, which has clocked a turnover of Rs 100 million in the fiscal just ended, has launched a slew of fresh election programming. Apart from the regular news bulletins, show like Janadesh 2004, Kaante Ki Takkar, Note Garam, Chunavi Jor Garam have been added to the regular programming.
Chunavi Paheli, a contest based show and Khatti Meethi Baatein, a programme on election sidelights as well as a psephological show have been planned for the channel. According to Prasar Bharati marketing head Vijayalaxmi Chhabra, DD has managed to sell the spots for four to five times the normal rates for the period between 1 April and 13 May.
While the channel has attempted to restrict the FCT of normal packages to avoid ad clutter during election time, it may also cut down on the double ticker scroll that is currently on DD News to give it a sleeker look. Among the prominent corporates who have bought airtime on DD News are Asian Paints, Indian Oil and Dabur, apart from Electrolux, Mahindra and Oriental Insurance. Airtel, MDH and Jeevanjyot are the other names who are part of the DD News election package sponsors. These sponsors have come on board particularly for the elections and are not part of the yearly packages. DD effected a 20 to 25 per cent rate hike from 1 April 2004, and advertisers have responded positively to the increased rates, says Chhabra.
DD News, which has climbed in viewership stakes considerably after its November 2003 launch, now faces its stiffest challenge with rival satellite news channels poised for a battle for the eyeballs.
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.
