News Broadcasting
IBN7 unveils special lineup for Christmas and New Year
MUMBAI: With the Christmas and New Year around, all channels are planning to package content differently to woo more viewers. Joining the bandwagon, Hindi news channel IBN7 unveils special programming to entertain the viewer this festive season.
Beginning 24 December, the programming will have a mix of shows ranging from Bollywood gossips, laughter shows, and musical evening with the Indian Idol contestants and small screen child artists.
IBN7 managing editor Ashutosh said, “We welcome the New Year with an array of programmes on IBN7 which has specially being designed keeping in mind our discerning viewers’ choice. We have tried to create an innovative package for our audience that would entertain them and reignite their emotions with the year end special shows.”
On 24 December at 8 pm, the channel will air Director’s Cut, Aamir, wherein Bollywood actor Aamir Khan will talk about the upcoming release Ghajini and his rival Shahrukh Khan in the one-hour studio based show, hosted by Richa Anirudh. On 25th evening, a 30-minute special with Indian Idol contestants will be aired.
On 28 December at 8 pm, the channel will show Amazing Kids in Zindagi Live. The special episode will feature kids who have set world records at a very tender age and have got themselves registered in Guinness book of world records.
Hanstey Hanstey will wrap up all special episodes of some of its hallmark shows on 31 December at 10 pm and on 1 January at 10 am. 31 December evening will also see a special one-hour musical show featuring the Indian Idol contestants humming their favorite songs, share their on-stage experience and talk about the show, the judges and their future plans.
The channel will also air Balika Vadhu special Zindagi Live on 4 January. The special episodes will bring popular child star Balika Vadhu’s – Anandi and her on-screen husband – Jagdish.
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: 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.
