News Broadcasting
Insat-3C in geo-stationary orbit, solar arrays deployed
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) latest multi-purpose geostationary satellite, Insat 3C, has been successfully maneuvered to move it into geo-stationary orbit. The satellite will be ready for use by month-end, Isro chairman K Kasturirangan, has been quoted as saying, with 30 more transponders being added to the capacity.
The first manoeuvre was carried out on 25 January that raised the orbit from 570 km to 9,350 km. The second manoeuvre was carried out on 26 January to raise the orbit to 18,340 km while the third was carried out on 28 January raising the orbit to 32,448 km. The last manoeuvre was on 30 January bringing the satellite to near geo-stationary orbit. The satellite is currently at 63 deg East longitude and drifting at 2 deg per day towards its designated orbital slot at 74 deg East longitude.
Meanwhile, the deployment of Insat-SC’s appendages was completed on 31 January 31. First the solar array on the south side of the satellite was deployed followed by the deployment of the antenna on the west side at 10:35 am.. The solar array on the north side of the satellite was deployed at 11:47 am and finally the antenna on the east side was deployed at 12:21 pm. Insat-3C has since been put in its final three axis stabilised mode on 1 February.
All the systems of Insat-3C have been performing as per predictions. The satellite has 488 kg fuel left on board which will be sufficient for its design life of 12 years, an official Isro statement says.
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.
