News Broadcasting
NDTV launches opt-out tech for Delhi with ‘Fight for Delhi’
MUMBAI: After launching the opt-out technology in south-only and Kolkata-only shows, NDTV has announced to use its opt-out technology to launch a special show for Delhi.
NDTV 24X7’s Delhi viewers will now have a 30-minute show dedicated to the news that affects the capital. Using its opt-out technology, starting 6 November. The channel will broadcast Fight for Delhi at 7.30 pm on weeknights. While the capital watches this show, the rest of the country will watch NDTV 24X7’s national beam.
Fight For Delhi will bring the people of Delhi face-to-face with their elected representatives so they can get an immediate response to their concerns, states an official release.
“It’s a problem-solving show that forces bureaucrats, ministers, anyone who’s in charge to commit on air, to making the change that people want. And we will follow up on the promises that they’re made. It’s a show that campaigns for Delhi and its people,” says NDTV 24X7 managing editor Sonia Singh.
“Sheila Dikshit, has committed to meeting voters once a week on this show. Our viewers will share their issues with her, and she will appoint a person to help them out by a fixed date,” comments NDTV chairman Prannoy Roy.
The statement issued by the company stated that NDTV’s opt-out program in South India, ‘Southern Edition’, generated a huge response in the four states it airs every night at 7 pm. Viewers in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu watch their own local news on this show, while the rest of the country receives NDTV 24X7’s national beam. Once a week, southern viewers also get their own edition of “The Big Fight”, an NDTV hallmark. With the use of the opt-out technology, viewers in Kolkata also watched city-specific programming during Durga Puja.
Opt-out technology, developed by NDTV, enables geographical areas to receive an independent video signal. It’s based on automatic satellite transmission without any manual intervention. There are individual boxes that are programmed to receive and switch frequency at the desired time to shift out of the regular feed and again switch back to the main feed when the opt-out is over.
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.
