News Broadcasting
Its poaching season for news channels
NEW DELHI: For those active in the electronic medium and TV journalists, it seems happy days are here again. And for broadcasters and TV software companies, it is also poaching time.
The latest, according to the capital’s grapevine, to do the hop, step and jump is Dibang who has left Aaj Tak to join as executive editor at NDTV which probably is preparing for life after Star post 31 March, 2003.
It is also being said here at the Press Club of India, a place where gossip flies thick and fast, that along with Dibang, a former Times of India journalist and a few others from Aaj Tak may also go. Though not confirmed, but the names doing the rounds of those who may leave Aaj Tak for other pastures include that of news anchors Nagma and Prasoon Pandey.
While Star India is fast recruiting people from the print and the electronic medium (Gaurav Sawant, formerly on the defence beat at the Indian Express in Delhi, is already said to have left for training abroad for Star’s news channel), NDTV does not seem to be far behind.
In recent times, not only has it recruited people for its news portal, ndtv.com, but is also wooing people for its proposed Hindi and English channels slated to be launched next year. Apart from Dibang, Ajit Sahi is also reported to be joining NDTV. Sahi, a former executive producer with the defunct Business India TV, had been working with India Abroad News Service (IANS).
Sahara, in the meanwhile, too has been getting newspersons in place for its proposed state-specific news channels. In recent times some people from Jain TV, have reportedly joined Sahara Samay (news) family.
But what is exciting print medium journalists that they suddenly see opportunities at their existing place of work and also in TV. Newspaper offices on the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, the Fleet Street of Delhi, these days are agog with talks as to who is going where and who is getting a promotion subsequent to people leaving for TV.
The mantra these days in journalistic circles is: make hay while the (TV) sun shines.
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.
