News Broadcasting
NBC takes new reality series off air
MUMBAI: US network NBC has discontinued the legal reality series The Law Firm it launched last month due to low ratings.
Reportedly, the programmes second episode recorded a drop of 24 per cent in viewership compared to its July 28 premiere. The show is anchored by celebrity legal analyst Roy Black and the prize money offered is $250,000.
The network has reportedly issued a media release stating that, “NBC will no longer be broadcasting episodes of The Law Firm. The six remaining episodes will air on Bravo, NBC’s sister cable network, on dates that are “yet to be determined.”
The network will be replacing The Law Firm with repeats of the sitcoms Will & Grace and Scrubs. This will follow two back-to-back repeats of Scrubs starting at 9 pm. Then on 22 September, the fourth season of NBC’s successful property The Apprentice will debut in the slot.
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.
