News Broadcasting
NDTV, Astro launches Astro c in Indonesia
MUMBAI: NDTV and Astro jointly announced the launch of a 24 hour news, infotainment and lifestyle channel called Astro Awani in Djakarta, Indonesia. The language of the channel is primarily Bahasa Indonesia. Astro Awani is the first channel launched by NDTV outside of India.
With this launch Astro Awani becomes the first news channel in Astro’s bouquet, and will be distributed throughout Indonesia on PT Direct Vision’s platform, that is currently licensing the ‘Astro’ trademark. Astro is expected to complete its 20 per cent investment in PT Direct Vision soon, states an official release.
“Astro Awani has been launched to provide incisive, up-to-the-minute news, lifestyle, debate, current affairs and infotainment to discerning viewers in Indonesia. By partnering with NDTV, we’ve ensured that we bring nothing less than the best practices in news gathering and infotainment programming to our viewers,” says PT Direct Vision CEO Nelia Sutrisno.
Commenting on the launch, Prannoy Roy of NDTV said, “This is a landmark for NDTV. For India’s media industry this is the first time that an Indian company has launched a news and infotainment channel outside India in partnership with an international media company. We regard this as one our most exciting new ventures and look forward to launching many more channels outside India in the future.”
Astro Awani fills the need for an information-based channel in Indonesia. Aimed at urban educated viewers around Indonesia, the channel is in the local Indonesian language – Bahasa Indonesia. The content is made up of news bulletins, current affairs shows, lifestyle programming and documentaries, adds the release.
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: 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.
