News Broadcasting
NBF seeks e-meeting with I&B minister to discuss stimulus package
MUMBAI: The News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) has requested a video conference meeting with union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar to discuss a 'comprehensive stimulus package’ for news broadcasters' to overcome the impact of the economic and financial challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Said an official statement of the federation, “The NBF in its letter has sought an appointment with I&B minister for an e-meeting through video-conference, during this week as per his convenience and availability to bring to attention about the most pressing issues the industry is facing due to lockdown for combating the spread of COVID-19.”
NBF is an association representing the combined interests of 300 TV news channels. The agenda of the meeting is to discuss and resolve the extraordinary situation the members of NBF are facing due to the lockdown while discharging the service to the society, reads the statement.
The issues that would be discussed with the minister during the e-meeting are: satellite and bandwidth charges, Prasar Bharti and DD Freedish, DAVP pending payments, unrestricted availability of FTS new channels, governmental support and liquidity issues.
The NBF delegation comprises president Arnab Goswami, vice-president Jaggi Mangat Panda, vice-president Shankar Bala, vice-president Sanjivie Narain, vice-president Kartikeya Sharma, and vice-president Riniki B Sharma, among others.
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.
