News Broadcasting
High Court rejects Kher’s petition against Zee
The Mumbai High Court on Wednesday quashed film actor Anupam Kher’s hopes of getting back at Zee Telefilms for the summary way in which he was dismissed as host of its flop game show Sawaal Dus Crore Ka (SDCK). In his petition, Kher had challenged his ‘arbitrary’ termination. He had also sought an injunction from the court to restrain Zee from discontinuing with the programme without him as a host.
Zee in its defence blamed Kher as the one who breached the contract by speaking to the media and said it was justified in removing him from the show, Press Trust of India reported. After hearing both the parties at length, Justice KK Baam, rejected Kher’s petition on the ground that such a dispute could only be decided through arbitration. Since nothing survived in the petition, it was disposed of by the court. Kher is now free to refer the matter to arbitration or prefer an appeal against this order.
“No doubt, Anupam is a good artist. Yet, he cannot compel Zee to retain him as a host,” the judge remarked. Kher had challenged the notice of 9 December served on him by Zee informing him of its decision to drop him from SDCK.
Kher’s counsel Janak Dwarkadas contended that Zee had no right to terminate his client’s services without giving him 60 days prior notice as this was one of the conditions of the contract signed between Kher and Zee on 13 October. Zee’s erratic dealings had publicly humiliated and psychologically traumatised Kher, Dwarkadas claimed. Zee’s counsel V Tulzapurkar countered that Kher had himself committed breach of contract by his utterances in the media which included his saying he was not interested in the show. Neither Zee nor Kher responded to calls requesting further details on the developments.
Meanwhile, the Cine TV and Artistes Association (CTVAA) committee, to which Kher had sent a complaint relating to the same case, was yet to meet on the matter. Association Secretary Dharmesh Tiwari had said on 14 December that a meeting would be taking place within a couple of days. Gathering all the committee members from their various commitments is proving a major hurdle.
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.
