News Broadcasting
Most cable networks in Mumbai sign on to new rates, says ESPN
ESPN Software today claimed a major victory in its tussle with the Hinduja Group MSO InCableNet when it announced that most cable networks across Mumbai city had signed the new service contracts for ESPN, Star Sports following the annual price revision of January 1, 2002.
Even Zee Group cable arm Siticable has signed onto the new rates – Rs 24 for a month per subscriber – industry sources as well as Siti franchisees have confirmed. This is significant because this means that of the three main MSOs in the city – InCableNet, Hathway and Siti – only InCableNet is out of the loop so to speak. There is one Siti JV that has allied with InCableNet in this dispute and that is the headend in the northeastern suburb of Ghatkopar run by Ravi Singh.
Sricharan Iyengar, vice-president – affiliate sales, said: “Cable networks affiliated to MSOs Hathway, Siticable and Wincable in Mumbai, as well as over 60 independent cable operators in and around Mumbai city, have signed the new service contracts for ESPN and Star Sports. Only the cable networks affiliated to InCableNet are yet to sign the new contracts.”
The dispute between ESPN and InCableNet is now awaiting the verdict of the courts with a judgment expected on Friday.
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.
