News Broadcasting
Max lines up its New Year’s movie fare
There have been reports that television channels are ushering the new year on a low key note. Notwithstanding this Sony Entertainment Television's Max, which positions itself as the home of Indian Cinema, is pulling out all the stops to woo the Bollywood buff.
The show starts nice and early at 9 am on New Year's Day with Heena, a love story set in the conflict between India and Pakistan and stars Rishi Kapoor and Pakistani heroine Zeba. Ashwini Bhave, Saeed Jaffrey, Kiran Kumar and Farida Jalal costar along with Raza Murad as the villain. Ravindra Jain's lilting melodies sung by Lata Mangeshkar are a highlight of the film.
In the evening at 4 pm watch the Big B star in his 80s hit Satte Pe Satta. The comic film also stars Hema Malini and Amjad Khan. The film directed by Raj Sippy has been inspired by the classic Hollywood musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
At 4 pm Chupke Chupke another Amitabh Bachchan comedy (from the 70s) will be shown. This also stars Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore and Jaya Bhaduri. Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed the superstar cast in the laugh riot brilliantly written by Gulzar.
At 8pm there will a special one hour show 'Current Bollywood Special:The Best Of 2001'. Dipti Bhatnagar anchors the program. It will look at box office performances as well as new faces that made a mark for themselves in film and how the big stars fared. It will also see what 2002 has in store.
Govinda and Sonali Bendre star in the film Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai at 9 pm. It has been directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and also stars Shakti Kapoor and Reema Lagoo. The films tells the story of a simpleton who discovers a new world, a new family, a new environment and new values unfolding in front of him.
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.
