News Broadcasting
MAX confident of selling inventory by mid-Jan ’03
MUMBAI: Indecisive advertisers and ad agencies had better watch out as there might not be any available spots during the World Cup 2003 cricket matches being aired on television! MAX officials have claimed that it will be able to sell 75 per cent of its World Cup cricket inventory by the first week of January. Nimbus officials have also claimed to have sold 91 percent of their total inventory.
SET executive vice president, sales and revenue management Rohit Gupta confirms: “We are very much on target as far as the sales of inventories as well as the revenues are concerned. The large sponsorship categories will be finalised by 5 January 2003. The remaining inventories (around 25 per cent) relating to the small-spender categories will also be finalised by mid-January 2003.”
Gupta also confirms that five out of the six major properties such as Action Replays, Fours, Sixes, Fall of Wickets have already been sold. “Predikta, the interactive game, had various levels of sponsorship. Pepsi is the principal sponsor of Predikta, whereas the other advertisers will offer prizes,” he adds.
Media sources claim that these smaller categories include credit card companies, banks, insurance companies, cement companies, food companies and batteries, among others. Such companies need not necessarily have large budgets and could make do with buying lesser spots.
MAX’s Gupta insists that the channel has carefully designed the advertising sales package so that advertisers will experience minimal clutter and viewers will have an enriching and satisfying experience. MAX has 4500-4800 spots whereas DD has around 6000 spots.
Channels Qualifying stage Super Sixes stage
DD 210 spots 170 spots
MAX 140 spots 60 spots
However, the MAX team is pretty bullish on expanding the base of advertisers for the cricket matches. MAX has devised an entertainment package that comprises several ‘softer’ and ‘not-necessarily cricket’ programmes.
Says Gupta, “Although the purists will be interested only in viewing the matches, there could be others who could be interested in knowing more about South Africa; the culinary delights of South Africa; or the personal details of cricketers and other celebrities. “
Gupta also feels that ‘out of home’ (OOH) viewing will increase substantially during the forthcoming World Cup. “Research agencies must make an effort to monitor the viewing patterns. These findings must eventually be shared with media planners,” he adds.
Industry sources claim that MAX is poised to garner nearly Rs two billion out of the possible Rs 3.7 billion ad spend during the forthcoming World Cup.
Meanwhile, Nimbus chairman and MD Harish Thawani has also claimed that the DD-Nimbus combine is on course to attaining its determined target. He however refused to give away figures of the revenues garnered thus far.
Media planners claim that C&S channels have traditionally bagged 82 to 87 per cent of the total ad spend, whereas DD has bagged 13 to 18 per cent, a trend that has stayed constant in the last four years.
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.
