News Broadcasting
Express buys out 10% of Mid-Day
MUMBAI: It is a deal that may have been struck at the right time. The Indian Express has bought 10 per cent equity in Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd for Rs 255.4 million, ahead of the launch of Hindustan Times in Mumbai.
The promoters of Mid-day ( through companies Ferari Investments and Trading and Meridian Holding and Leasing) on Thursday intimated the company that they have agreed to sell 4256628 shares of the company at a price of Rs 60 per share to The Indian Express. The post transaction holding of the promoters would be 53.6 per cent.
Earlier, the Times of India had shown interest in acquiring stake in Mid-Day which runs the popular city tabloid, but negotiations fell through over price. Subsequently, a group company of Bennett, Coleman and Co Ltd (publisher of the Times of India) picked up a 7.5 per cent equity stake in Mid-Day from the open market.
The recent transaction could set the ground for exploring areas of mutual co-operation as both Indian Express and Mid-Day face stiff threat from emerging competition. In a turf that has been dominated by the Times of India Group, there are other print publications planning entry. The buzz is that Zee in partnership with Dainik Bhaskar is eyeing a newspaper launch in Mumbai; so is The Hindu, if the rumours are to be believed.
Incidentally, The Indian Express is planning to raise an initial public offering (IPO) to meet its fund requirements.
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.
