News Broadcasting
Jay Mehta to produce show for Zee, Sahara
MUMBAI: Jay Mehta, the son of film producer and distributor Pranlal Mehta, will be producing two new TV shows: Vishwas in the afternoon slot for Zee and another one for Sahara TV which is in the early stages of conceptualisation.
Mehta has acted in films such as Muskurahat and produced feature films such as 100 Days. On TV, he has earlier done shows such as Mujhe Door Koi Kiche (Zee), Jung (Doordarshan), Zara Suneye To (Sahara) and a Gujarati serial Karo Kankuna for Alpha Gujarati. Mehta is also waiting for the right script for his Gujarathi theatre project which he bills as his dream.
“Vishwas is a social thriller which will be aired in the afternoon. I have already finished shooting some episodes and am waiting for Zee’s officials to give me the exact telecast timings,” says Jay Mehta. Mehta however, states that that the Sahara project is in the early stages of conceptualisation.
Vishwas stars Vijayendra Ghatge, Gautam Chaturvedi, Anang Desai, Raju Kher and Usha Bachani amongst others. Mehta states that he has worked with Zee and is comfortable working with the programming team.
When queried about the difference between feature films and TV productions, Mehta says: “Both are similar in the sense that the hard work and creativity are part and parcel of the two separate mediums. On TV, one has to make some adjustments as the channel officials have a say in the scheme of things. In the case of films, one has a lot of freedom.”
Mehta also states that the channel’s creative team provides the independent producers with invaluable inputs about the look and feel of the show. “It is a combined effort. However, the independent producers have to assert themselves in certain creative aspects. The channels’ programming team shouldn’t interfere much in the scripts,” he adds.
Mehta has his own creative team and script-writers. The panel of experts comes up with various story ideas based on current affairs, literature and other sources.
When asked as to why he has no projects on DD, Mehta states:”I have had some good experiences during my earlier stint with Doordarshan. However, I don’t have much time on hand now to complete the extensive paper work and formalities. Also, I used to visit DD’s headquarters in Delhi often but haven’t done so in a long time.”
Mehta’s afternoon show on Zee will be eagerly awaited as it would fill in the void created by Balaji Telefilm’s production Kohi Apna Sa!
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.
