News Broadcasting
FIPB clears Hay House’s proposal to set up a joint venture firm
MUMBAI: Meanwhile, the FIPB has cleared a proposal of Hay House Publications (India) Pvt. Ltd for setting up a joint venture company with a foreign equity of 80 per cent amounting to Rs 6.8 million by Hay House Inc. USA.
The clearance came despite the department of secondary and higher education advising that the proposal needed to be examined and sought deferment for two weeks. I&B ministry had no comments to offer.
The balance 20 per cent equity will be held in the ratio of 10 per cent each amounting to Rs 850,000 each by Indian residents Ravi and Meena Lalwani, the resident shareholders.
Hay House Publications (India), which was incorporated with a paid up capital of Rs 100,000, will be engaged in the printing and distribution in India of foreign books, deck cards and audios on various literary, social, health, agricultural, medical, rural and all non-political subjects.
As per the extant policy, FDI upto 100 per cent is allowed under FIPB route in publishing/printing scientific and technical magazines, periodicals and journals.
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.
