News Broadcasting
Google IPO seeks $2.7 billion
MUMBAI: Putting an end to months of speculation, Internet search leader Google has launched its initial public offering (IPO), seeking to raise $2.7 billion.
The IPO was launched through an unusual auction-style offering in order to give the founders rare control over the company.
The registration filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission offers an estimate of what the company believes it may be able to raise with its IPO. But the filing does not disclose the number of shares that will be offered nor the range in price for these shares, says reports.
Taking a cue from the successful IPO structures of media companies such as The New York Times, Google will create two classes of shares with different voting rights. The move ensures that founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will maintain decision-making authority.
“It is important to us to have a fair process for our IPO that is inclusive of both small and large investors. It is also crucial that we achieve a good outcome for Google and its current shareholders,” states the filing.
In their letter to investors, Brin and Page said they plan to sell some of their shares as part of the offering and are encouraging other shareholders to do so as well.
With the filing, Google for the first time released its financial results. The company generated $961.9 million in revenue in fiscal 2003 and posted $105.6 million in net profit. That marked the third consecutive year of profits for the search engine giant. During the most recent quarter, which ended on 31 March, Google clocked $389.6 million in revenue and posted a $64 million profit.
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.
