News Broadcasting
India Ahead CEO Chetan Sharma moves on
MUMBAI: India Ahead (IA) CEO Chetan Sharma has decided to move on from his current position at the Andhra Prabha Group's news channel after almost a two-year long stint.
India Ahead MD Mootha Goutam announced his departure via a letter to the company employees writing, "After seeing the channel through some momentous events in the short history of IA – such as general elections in the world's largest democracy, Parliament sessions, Pulwama attacks etc, Chetan has decided to move on to pursue other interests that are close to his heart, in the areas of teaching and writing. I, personally wish him all the very best in his endeavors and he shall ever remain in the hearts of "Team IA".
Goutam added, "I would like to place on record the immense work put in by Chetan Sharma, who came on board IA during its formative years as the first CEO and steered it through with meticulous planning and put in place a platform in a record time, thus enabling us to move forward with more vigour."
He also announced the beginning of a new chapter for the channel touted 2.0 with some new appointments: group president, news room operations and editorial strategies Sudeep Mukhia; president, national editorial affairs Amit Goel, president, editorial affairs Sudha Sadanand; and president, sales, marketing, new strategies amd collaborations Arjun Pandey.
Goutam further stated in his letter, "My vision for India Ahead, as a promoter, is to stay nimble, fast, relevant; and in this era of technology, I would like us to be seen, perceived and accepted by our viewers as a "tech enabled electronic media" driven by "news channel at the front end and fuelled by a robust "Digital Platform" at the back end. With the advent of the following team members joining today, I foresee a tectonic shift in the process and methodology of delivering news. Your experience, energy and passion should usher in a new era for India Ahead."
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.
