News Broadcasting
HFCL-Nine not in default to DD, says CEO Ravina Raj Kohli
HFCL-Nine Broadcasting has denied reports that it had defaulted on payments to national broadcaster Doordarshan and said all its dues had been cleared.
The clarification came in the wake of reports yesterday that HFCL-Nine had defaulted on four instalments of payments totalling Rs 240 million over an eight-week period.
As per the contractual agreement, HFCL-Nine has to pay DD Rs 60 million a fortnight for its three-hour slot between 7 pm and 10 pm on DD Metro. HFCL-Nine had last year secured the rights to supply programming for the prime time slot for Rs 1,210 million.
Speaking exclusively to indiantelevision.com (read interview), HFCL-Nine CEO Ravina Raj Kohli said: “The facts are not correct. Technically, there were only three defaults – or rather delays. We had not paid up because we were waiting and watching. We had submitted a proposal and were discussing extension of the current contract with DD. We paid up finally, earlier this week. We had the money.”
HFCL-Nine is a 51:49 per cent joint venture between Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd promoted by Vinay Malloo and Channel Nine promoted by Australian media magnate Kerry Packer’s Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd.
HFCL-Nine has been under the spotlight in recent times because of its indirect association with cornered bull operator Ketan Parekh who has been accused of massive fraud on the stock markets and is presently in custody. Parekh, Malloo and Packer are partners in KVP Ventures, a venture capital fund set up for investments in the convergence sectors.
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.
