News Broadcasting
NDTV Q3 net loss widens to Rs 1.2 billion
MUMBAI: The grim tale of economic downturn continues with yet another media company posting poor third-quarter results. NDTV Ltd’s consolidated net loss has widened to Rs 1.21 billion, as against a loss of Rs 320.2 million in the quarter ended 31 December, 2007.
The figures also capture the losses made on the entertainment and allied business of Rs 1.04 billion.
NDTV’s revenue grew 12 per cent to Rs 1.31 billion, from Rs 1.08 billion a year ago.
The company said that the change in the external environment and the economic downturn has resulted in a visible slowdown in advertising revenues not just for NDTV, but for the industry as a whole. It also mentioned that it has already initiated major rationalisation of costs on all fronts – distribution, personnel and administration, to improve efficiency and streamline operations.
It claimed that the group has cash balance of over Rs 4 billion, net of all debt, to meet any future business expense requirements including new programming and developments.
The company’s total expenditure stood at Rs 2.33 billion, nearly double from Rs 1.19 billion on a year-on-year basis. Operating expenses shot up mainly due to rise in marketing, distribution, promotional and production costs.
On a standalone basis, NDTV posted a net loss of Rs 174.8 million for the third quarter ended 31 December 2008 while revenue was at Rs 825.9 million.
NDTV has received confirmation of no objection from the stock exchanges (BSE, NSE) for the de-merger of news and entertainment businesses and it will be filing the scheme with the Delhi High Court, the company said in a statement.
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.
