News Broadcasting
Karnataka government shies away from moratorium row
BANGALORE: Finding the chief minister’s attitude ‘elusive’, the Kannada Film Producers Association (KFPA) has decided to start an agitation by taking to the streets against the theatre, which are exhibiting non-Kannada films in violation of the amended three week moratorium, from 24 November onwards.
Three more theatres have started exhibiting Veer Zaara, taking a cue from the three theaters that were exhibiting this film starting Monday, 15 November.
The government is wary of the SC order. Additionally, fearing the contempt of court threat by Yash Chopra, it is trying to wash its hands off the entire matter saying that the seven week or the three week moratorium was a decision taken by the film industry and not by the state government.
The Kannada film industry under the aegis of the KFPA has decided to meet tomorrow to chalk out the future course of action.
In the meantime, the theatre owners violating the ban have approached the high court with a petition that protestors should not be permitted within 500 meters of the theatres.
The government advocate told the judge that necessary protection has been provided and could continue to be there.
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.
