News Broadcasting
Live Times expands reach, now available on DD Free Dish
MUMBAI: India’s first global multicast news hub, Live Times, has bolstered its distribution network by securing a coveted position on DD Free Dish Channel No. 100, alongside adding Waves OTT to its digital portfolio.
The strategic expansion follows Live Times’ already robust presence across major DTH platforms—Tata Play, Dish TV, and Airtel DTH—as well as on Jio TV, India’s largest digital platform.
With this latest move, Live Times has dramatically expanded its footprint to reach approximately 150 million households or 450 million individuals across socioeconomic categories A, B and C. This comprehensive coverage spanning the entire social spectrum underscores the network’s commitment to delivering “authentic and accurate” news to citizens across all demographic and economic backgrounds.
“Information is power, only when it is factually correct,” remarked Live Times founder Dilip Kumar Singh.”To ensure that our viewers and users are empowered with truth alone… Live Times on DD Free Dish is one of the key platforms to take the truth even to the nook and corners of the country.”
The addition of DD Free Dish—often referred to as India’s common man’s entertainment lifeline—serves to bridge the persistent information gap between metropolitan centres and rural communities. Singh added that the expansion represents “one step closer to democratising access to news and information.”
For advertisers seeking to connect with a diverse, pan-Indian audience, Live Times now offers unprecedented reach from urban hubs to remote villages through a platform that prides itself on authentic journalism with impact.
Viewers can access Live Times on DD Free Dish (Channel 100), Tata Play (Channel 539), DishTV (Channel 665), Airtel Digital TV (Channel 385), Jio TV (Channel 3069), and Sikka Cable TV (Channel 319).
The network, which operates from what it describes as “a state-of-the-art multicast hub”—purportedly the first of its kind in India—follows the ethos of “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” while leveraging partnerships with global technology companies and content providers to deliver its news service.
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: 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.
