News Broadcasting
‘Me numero uno’ claims Radio City
MUMBAI: Radio City must be humming the victory tune.
Tom-tomming the ACNielsen ORG-MARG study results, Star’s FM radio arm is currently rejoicing as the No. 1 radio brand in the country.
In a press release issued by the company, the FM radio station, quoting the research finds, say that it has emerged as the No.1 FM radio station in Mumbai and Delhi.
It claims to have the highest listenership share amongst all radio stations. The research also underlines that Radio City has recorded the highest Total Awareness and Time Spent Listening amongst all FM radio stations.
ACNielsen ORG-MARG studied a cross section belonging to SEC A, B and C and from 15-45 years in both Mumbai and Delhi amongst Male/Female. The subjects belonged to households with FM access and listening to radio for atleast three days in last one week. The sample listing for the research was 1000 each for Mumbai and Delhi.
According to the release, in the multiple station cities of Mumbai and Delhi, Radio City has the highest listenership share with 42 per cent in Mumbai and 39 per cent in Delhi. The study also revealed that time spent listening to Radio City on a weekday varies on an average from 1 to 1.4 hours in both the cities, which is the highest amongst all radio stations.
Findings of the Research:
MUMBAI
| Station | Listenership Share (%) | TOM Awareness (%) | Time Spent Listening (Hrs.) |
| Radio City |
42
|
40
|
1.4
|
| Radio Mirchi |
25
|
28
|
1.0
|
| Win |
18
|
14
|
0.7
|
| Vividh Bharti |
9
|
8
|
0.2
|
| Red |
5
|
6
|
0.2
|
| Others |
1
|
NA
|
NA
|
DELHI
| Station | Listenership Share (%) | TOM Awareness (%) | Time Spent Listening (Hrs.) |
| Radio City |
39
|
33
|
1.0
|
| Radio Mirchi |
34
|
41
|
0.9
|
| Win |
15
|
14
|
0.4
|
| Vividh Bharti |
7
|
7
|
0.2
|
| Red |
3
|
3
|
0.1
|
| Others |
2
|
NA
|
NA
|
Commenting on the findings, Radio City COO Sumantra Dutta said,” We have further consolidated on our leadership position due to a continued thrust on new program offerings and constant innovation of content on Radio City. We have also been able to get the patronage of advertisers with the highest share in terms of second-age and number of brands on air, amongst all FM radio stations.”
“It is a moment of pride for us as this recognition coincides with the forthcoming anniversaries of our two popular stations in the metros of Mumbai and Delhi,” he added.
The findings of the ACNielsen research also endorses the Radio Audience Measurement, Wave fifth and sixth study (syndicated), posting Radio City as the undisputed leader across all time bands, age-groups and socio-economic classes A to E in Mumbai, says the release.
The research also emphasises radio as the most often used medium for sourcing music and Hindi as the most preferred language not only for listening to music but also for Radio Jockey (RJ) talk.
According to the release, Radio City’s play list is designed from extensive consumer research. Touting the study, Radio City claims that it’s radio jockey’s have been able to bond with the listeners.
Besides the music based programme, the research also shows that there has been a fair amount of preference for non-music shows.
The newer programming initiatives like airing the series like Star Plus’ flagship soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Saans, Apradhi Kaun, and Darr have gone well with the audience. Besides, the stations fresh program offerings like Babbar Sher, Popat, and Public City, have also been well appreciated.
In a bid to buttress its listnership, the radio station also organises contests, call-ins and other interactive shows. One of the show Suno Aur Lakhpati Bano garnered as many as 12.3 million responses in just five weeks, says the release. While the first ever Junior RJ hunt, which culminated in a show hosted by the winners of the hunt, gave a platform for people to demonstrate their music ability.
Apart from the content delivered on air, Radio City has campaigned for various social causes. The station broadcasted intiatives like Gift A Toy, Seekho Sikhao campaign, Supporting the Traffic Police and Radio Awards for Public Service amongst others. It also conducted an auction for Hema Malini’s sari from the movie Baghbaan and the money collected was contributed to Concern India foundation, adds the release.
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.
