News Broadcasting
NDTV gets alive and kicking with new events vertical
MUMBAI: In a bold foray into the live entertainment business, New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) on Tuesday said its board has approved the launch of a new vertical titled NDTV Alive, aimed at capitalising on India’s booming events market. From ticketed spectacles to high-octane public experiences, the Adani-owned broadcaster is stepping beyond the newsroom and into the arena. The company announced this through a regulatory filing with the Bombay stock exchange earlier today.
To steer this fresh initiative, NDTV has brought in media veteran Rahul Kumar Shaw as chief experience officer. Shaw, who has clocked over three decades across heavyweights such as Star India, Zee Entertainment, SET India, and TV Today Network, joins with immediate effect and will also serve as senior management personnel.
NDTV Alive will focus on experiential formats, a strategic move the company claims will “diversify revenue” and solidify its entertainment footprint. Investments will vary depending on artist fees, production costs, marketing, ticketing, and insurance – but the ambition is unmistakable.
Shaw previously headed Stage AajTak, the experiential arm of TV Today, and is known for orchestrating immersive formats across TV, radio, and sport. A commerce graduate from Calcutta University, he is expected to bring his flair for content-meets-commerce to the new vertical.
While NDTV has not disclosed a fixed capital infusion, insiders say the venture signals a wider push under the Adani umbrella to reimagine legacy media assets for a more interactive age.
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.
