News Broadcasting
ESS switches InCableNet back on in Mumbai as deal signed
MUMBAI: It was back on almost before anyone noticed. At least that would have been the case if India’s national passion cricket were not involved.
Less than two hours after Hinduja Group MSO InCableNet’s signal in Mumbai was cut by ESPN Star Sports, it was back on again after a final agreement on payment terms was signed. The agreement is valid for a year till 31 December 2004.
While neither party would go into specifics, the fact that that the only sticking point in a deal being reached earlier was on payment guarantees appears to indicate that InCableNet finally gave in on that score as well.
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.
