News Broadcasting
FTV to press civil, criminal charges against MEN
MUMBAI: Fashion TV has finally decied to act. In a statement issued yesterday in Paris, FTV has said it is preparing ‘a civil criminal charge against Lalit Modi and Modi group in France and in India’.
According to the statement, the move to press charges was triggered when the fashion channel was informed that Modi Entertainment Network, which had a distribution agreement with FTV, ‘was entering into agreements selling the ‘Fashion Bars’ concept to third parties’.
According to the release, FTV has been informed that ‘MEN is collecting substantial advance payments of as much as $100 000 even though the agreement between MEN and Fashion TV has been terminated’.
While MEN, which has maintained a stoic silence these past two weeks after pressing charges against FTV for having entered into parallel ad sales agreement with the Worldwide Channel and starting a FTA feed on Asiasat 2, FTV now seems determined to get even with its former ally.
‘Even during the validity of the agreement, Modi needed the express written permission to engage Fashion TV in long term partnerships or franchising agreements such as Fashion Bars. Legal counsels in Paris consider this act by Modi as fraud as Modi has never and does not have in the present day the right to sign such agreements and take deposit, advance payments and royalties,’ the statement says.
MEN and Fashion TV had launched the Fashion Bar in Bangalore late last year as a means to promote brand loyalty and develop niche clientele among the upper crust. FTV promoter Michel Adam says, “We found out Lalit Modi has been doing this all the time, and that is why we terminated the agreement.”
Fashion TV is now appealing the stay order form Delhi High Court claiming that ‘information provided by Lalit Modi to obtain the injunction is full of lies’. The Delhi HC had earlier stayed Fashion TV from starting a parallel FTA feed.
The channel has openly declared war with MEN, advising ‘all interested parties to verify their commercial relationship between MODI Group and Fashion TV with their legal counsels.’
The ball now seems to be back in the Modis’ court.
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.
