News Broadcasting
Ministries differ on FDI in news channels
NEW DELHI: Even as a group of ministers (GoM) deliberate on a draft of the revised uplink norms, various arms of the government differ on the issue of quantum of foreign investment in news channels uplinking from India.
As opposed to the information and broadcasting ministry, the ministries of commerce and finance feel that limiting FII investment in news ventures within the overall foreign investment cap of 26 per cent would be “restrictive.”
Rather, the finance ministry, ideally, would like the total foreign direct investment level (including FII investments) to be higher at 49 per cent.
“It would be preferable to restrict foreign direct investment (FDI) to not exceeding 49 per cent in the Indian holding companies of the applicant (news) company,” ministry of finance has observed.
Harping on similar lines, the ministry of commerce feels that capping FDI and FII investments at 26 per cent might be detrimental to foreign investments being made in India.
Reacting to a set of revised uplink norms (for news channels), inked by the I&B ministry, the commerce ministry sates, “The draft Cabinet note proposes a composite limit (FDI and FII investments) of 26 per cent, which would make the policy more restrictive.”
The finance ministry, seized with the issue of increasing FDI inflow into India, has stated that it would be preferable “not to calculate” FDI pro rata in the equity of the Indian shareholding news companies.
However, the I&B ministry seems to be obsessed with the 26 per cent limit and has argued for FII investment to be allowed within the foreign investment cap.
“The proposal to include FII/non-resident Indian investment within the overall limit of 26 per cent would not make the policy more restrictive,” the I&B ministry has countered.
It has further stated that there has been no difficulty so far in
calculating FDI on a pro rate basis in shareholding companies.
It “may not be feasible to prescribe a uniform 49 per cent shareholding (across all sectors)” as those companies may be from different sectors of the economy having different sectoral ceiling on FDI, the I&B ministry has argued.
Interestingly, the finance ministry also feels that stipulating a news venture, uplinking from India, to have a minimum of 51 per cent shareholding from Indians may be detrimental too.
Some of the public media companies like TV Today (owners of Aaj Tak and Headlines Today news channels), Zee Telefilms and Television Eighteen Ltd (the majority joint venture partner in CNBC TV 18 business channel) have made representation to the government, included in the government note, that it would be difficult for listed companies to track FII investment on a day-to-day basis.
The GoM, which is supposed to be studying the uplink and downlink policies, is still to meet on the issue. Government sources said that the process may start after the present session of Parliament adjourns sine die on 25 August.
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.
