News Broadcasting
Google appoints Ann Mather to its board of directors
MUMBAI: Google has appointed Ann Mather to its board of directors. As a corporate finance executive who has driven accounting and strategic business initiatives for different companies for nearly 25 years, Mather will also serve as the chairperson for Google’s audit committee.
Mather says, “I am one of Google’s biggest fans, and I believe whole-heartedly in its ability to help make the world a better place. I look forward to working with the esteemed board to help guide Google’s finance and accounting platform”.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt says, “Ann Mather is an extraordinary leader in the financial community, and her experience abroad is a great enhancement to the board’s global perspective. We look forward to engaging Ann’s vast accounting expertise as chair of our audit committee.”
Mather has been a director on the board of the Central European Media Enterprises group since April 2004, and serves on its audit and compensation committees. She served as a director for Shopping.com from May 2004 until it was acquired by Ebay in 2005.
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.
