News Broadcasting
NDTV, Astro launch Astro Awani in Malaysia
MUMBAI: NDTV and Astro have launched a 24-hour news and information channel, Astro Awani, in Malaysia on 6 September. This follows the launch last year in Indonesia of a 24-hour news, infotainment and lifestyle channel.
With the tagline ‘Our Gateway to The World,’ Astro Awani is the first 24-hour news and information channel in Malaysia.
Presented in the national language, Astro Awani will have a mixed content of current international news, events and issues which are relevant to the local viewers.
Astro Awani is one of the four channels that NDTV is going to launch in September. The package includes NDTV lifestyle channel Good Times, Astro Awani, a channel for the Middle East and Metronation.
NDTV Group CEO KVL Narayan Rao said, “NDTV’s association with Astro has had a great start last year, with the success of Astro Awani in Indonesia. Now, we are delighted to come together again and provide viewers in Malaysia with a comprehensive look at news and topical issues. The channel is a tribute to NDTV’s long standing commitment to delivering in-depth news and information-based programming.”
Astro TV CEO Rohana Rozhan said, “We observed that our customers want higher quality content in a form that is international news presented from a local perspective. To fulfil this demand, we are proud to introduce Astro Awani. It will feature global news, events and issues from a Malaysian perspective, and will be presented in the national language.”
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.
