News Broadcasting
MPCL gears for “voice of people” infotainment channel
NEW DELHI: From documentaries, television shows, cross-over films, promotional advertising films and 3 D long-format television series, Moving Pictures Company Limited (MPCL) is moving on to an interactive infotainment city-centric channel. A channel, to based on the lines of voice of people, will have various forms of information and entertainment, says MPCL managing director Ramesh Sharma.
MPCL is strategically planning to launch the channel during the latter half of the year, banking on the upswing in the consumer spending during the festive season. The channel will be initially launched in free-to-air mode.
For MPCL, such initiative is a natural progression especially with various broadcasting technologies emerging as an attractive proposition in the near future. Moving Pictures is an integrated multimedia company. The idea is to synergise the strength of the company, said Sharma.
The channel will have news, information and entertainment, which be useful for people. It will be similar to FM concept, except for the fact that it will be on television. Whether its shopping, highlighting needs or problem of people in residential areas or political news, the idea is to position it as a channel, which is the voice of the people and speaks for the people, he said.
Citing examples on how the channel will associate itself with viewers, Sharma said, There will be political news. The idea is to make the channel as an interface between policy makers and people. There will be lots of phone-ins and other forms of interaction. Then there would be dos and donts from traffic or probably a daily segment on real estate. There will be various forms of entertainment whether its through entertainment news, game shows, countdown/music shows etc.
MPCL is not only looking at local advertisers but also national spenders, who can strategise their communication programmes in a focused manner. Obviously, local advertisers would be part of the spenders list. Why a local cinema hall would spend on a national channel? So this platform can be used by local companies or retailers. But even the national advertisers would find this useful such as ones from FMCG sector, said Sharma.
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.
