News Broadcasting
GoM to review print sector vis-a-vis FIIs
NEW DELHI: Giving away a fact that there must have been some internal differences on the matter, the Indian government, today said that a ministerial group will review the whole print medium sector vis-?-vis foreign investments (FII).
“A group of ministers (GoM) would review the entire print medium sector vis-a-vis publications of foreign journals and newspapers in India and the foreign investment allowed at present,” information and broadcasting minister Jaipal Reddy today told journalists during a briefing of a Cabinet meeting. The I&B ministry had taken some media-related issues to the Union Cabinet, including amendments to an antiquated Press Registration Bureau Act, in the light of the fact that The International Herald Tribune has started publication from India in what the government feels is a breach of the letter and spirit of existing guidelines on the issue.
Though Reddy made it clear that the proposed GoM is unlikely to have a say in foreign investment norms for the television sector, he did not rule out over turning of the previous government’s decision allowing up to 26 per cent foreign investment in the news category of the print medium and up to 74 per cent in the technical journal category.
“How can I predict what view the GoM would take? One of the options could be to make the present guidelines (on foreign investment in print medium) more stringent,” he cautiously said.
The changes in the foreign investment norms in the print medium was brought about in 2002, after hectic lobbying by a section of media companies, by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government. That there were some differences within the Union Cabinet on the issue of amendment in the PRB Act and the IHT case could be seen from the fact the compromise formula was the suggestion on formation of a GoM, rather than okay an I&B ministry proposal, envisaging a slew of changes.
The GoM, which does not have any time frame for its recommendations at the moment, would look at the print medium sector, violations of guidelines occurring therein and what could be done keeping in mind the changing national and global scenario.
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.
