News Broadcasting
Maa TV plans to raise Rs 300 mn; to launch music channel
MUMBAI: Maa TV Network Ltd, which operates a telugu general entertainment channel, is in talks with a group of investors to raise Rs 300 million through preferential allotment of shares.
In the expanded equity, founder-promoter Murali Krishna Raju is willing to bring down his stake from 85 per cent to 50 per cent. The holding of the other promoters may reduce from 15 per cent to 7.5 per cent, a source close to the company says.
The company has plans to launch a music channel and also spruce up programming on Maa TV. “Talks are on with local investors and also TV9,” says the source. TV9 is a Telugu news channel, promoted by venture fund i-Labs Associated Fund and Chennai-based Unify Wealth Management.
Maa TV has been in search of funds for over a year and earlier talks with Sun Network for selling stake had failed. The channel is now banking on blockbusters to boost its ratings. “Part of the fund requirement is to make movie acquisitions. Investment will also be made towards serials,” the source says.
The channel plans to introduce soaps in its primetime line-up starting 2005 December.
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.
