News Broadcasting
ESS-InCable parleys inconclusive, to continue tomorrow
MUMBAI: The feud between ESPN Star Sports and Hinduja Group MSO InCableNet failed to reach a resolution today. The two parties will resume discussions tomorrow. ESS had earlier issued the deadline of this evening for InCable to clear up matters.
When contacted ESS affiliate sales VP Srichand Iyengar said that the offer that InCable had made today was completely unacceptable. ” If they fail to make an appropriate offer within the next two days we will be left with no option but to cut off our signal. We have yet take a call on when this will happen. We cannot continue to offer our services for free.”
Speaking for InCable, Hinduja TMT’s Ashok Mansukhani reiterated that an offer had been made and that the ball was in ESS’ court. ” We have still to get a rep[y from them regarding our offer. Talks will continue tomorrow between us and them. At the moment we are still showing the channels.”
About all that this offers the InCable subscriber is that he/she can sit back on the morrow and enjoy the show when India’s cricketing heroes are expected to create history by beating the mighty Aussies in their own backyard. After that though…
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.
