News Broadcasting
India TV asserts 80% C&S penetration in Hindi belt
NEW DELHI: India TV, the 24-hour news channel promoted by Rajat Sharma, is now reaching 19 million homes in the Hindi belt. With this wide distribution, India TV has achieved an 80 per cent penetration in cable and satellite households in the Hindi belt.
The distribution network looks commendable as the channel has not even begun expanding its distribution network in southern India.
With increasing efforts going behind distribution every week, the last two months has witnessed two to three per cent growth in penetration. The Hindi belt has especially shown a wide acceptance for India TV. As per Tam’s connectivity report, in the last month, improvements in connectivity have ensured that India TV’s presence in the vital P, C and S bands is better than that of other news channels, an official statement from India TV claimed.
In markets like Maharashtra and Kolkata (C&S penetration of 77 per cent), India TV has a stronger presence in these bands than Star News, while it outscores Zee News in Maharashtra and Rajasthan (C&S penetration of 80.8 per cent). In Gujarat, the channel has recorded a C&S penetration of 53.4 per cent and in Madhya Pradesh the channel has recorded a C&S penetration of 80.7 per cent. Overall, India TV is available to at least 75 to 80 per cent of C&S households, the statement added.
Commenting on the response received by the distribution team, Sharma said, “It is very encouraging to have managed successfully to implement our strategy, especially through the 100 per cent penetration in most parts of the Hindi belt. The distribution success stands testament to the fact that our unbiased news reporting and international methods of news gathering are being appreciated by viewers.”
Elaborating on the distribution success, Arun Poddar, vice-president (distribution), India TV, said, “In major towns of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, India TV has managed a 100 per cent distribution of both head ends and C&S households. Today, nearly 19 million C&S households in the Hindi belt receive our channel.”
From this month the focus would be on increasing the distribution in south India.
India TV has a distribution agreement with Dish TV, which has 150,000 subscribers. Under the terms of the agreement, Dish TV will receive exclusive rights to distribute the channel on its DTH platform
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.
