News Broadcasting
India’s NatWest cricket finals win delivers ESPN year’s highest C&S ratings
MUMBAI: ESPN’s live telecast of the NatWest series finals on 13 July registered an unprecedented viewership with ratings touching a record high of 19.31 TVR for all C&S homes 4+ category, the company has asserted.
The final hour of the NatWest finals on ESPN thus created a record for the most watched television programme this year across all channels by registering an average of 14.7 TVR for all C&S homes, 4 + category, an official release states, quoting TAM Media Research data.
During the nail-biting finish which saw some electric performances by India’s young turks led by new batting sensation Mohammed Kaif , Male, 15+, SEC ABC, all India, the target group for media buyers on sports channels, registered a record TVR of 22.16, the highest for any sports broadcast across C&S homes for the last two years.
Manu Sawhney, managing director of ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd., said: “I believe a combination of exciting India playing one-day cricket, the exclusive nature of live telecast on ESPN, and ESPN STAR Sports being the highest penetrated encrypted channels across India helped us deliver the record ratings.”
More audiences tuned in for the entire duration of India batting telecast on ESPN (over 4 hours) recording a phenomenal average of 11.5 TVR for all C&S homes 4+ category, and 15.3 TVR for Male, 15+, SEC ABC, all India, the target group for the sports channels, the release states.
Over 23.6 million people across all C&S homes tuned in to watch an amazing Indian victory scoring over 325 runs playing second! Over 42 per cent of all males in 15+ SEC ABC category across the C&S homes India tuned in, the data shows.
The average sport ratings during the entire Indian batting session of the NatWest series final telecast on ESPN recorded a TVR of 13.4 offering tremendous value to sponsors Pepsi, LG, Samsung, TVS, Sahara India and Hindustan Lever, the release says.
Next up for ESPN Star Sports is the live and exclusive telecast of the India-England test series begins on Star Sports on Thursday, 25 July.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
