News Broadcasting
MTV US to relaunch College Network as mtvU
MUMBAI: MTV has announced that its college network in the US will relaunch with a new name — mtvU – on 20 January.
The channel, earlier known as CTN: College Television Network, was acquired by MTV in October 2002. mtvU will be a whole new type of media company traversing beyond just being a television entity. mtvU will be dedicated to every aspect of college life, reaching students everywhere they hang out, through a three pronged approach — on-air, online and on campus.
The focus of mtvU will rest on music programming, news, student life features, events, pro-social initiatives and more. mtvU GM Stephen Friedman added, “mtvU will be all about U, the university and more importantly, U, the student. Just as college students are experimenting with their lives, we want to be a laboratory for what’s new, whether it be new music or recognising the talents of the students themselves.”
MTV, MTV2, mtvU president Van Toffler was quoted in an official release saying, “mtvU won’t just be TV. We are going to be a resource for students’ lives, everywhere they are, when they’re in their dormitory rooms, surfing the Net or walking across campus. Students don’t just want entertainment. So we’ll also provide them the practical resources they’re demanding on everything from jobs to travel to dating.”
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.
