News Broadcasting
NDTV reappoints Sanjay Pugalia as full-time director
MUMBAI: Fast decisions, familiar faces. NDTV’s board has moved swiftly to lock in continuity at the top, reappointing Sanjay Pugalia as full-time director for another three-year term, even as it cleared financial results and auditor mandates in a packed meeting.
The board of New Delhi Television Limited met on January 28, 2026, approving several key resolutions. Chief among them: Pugalia’s reappointment as whole-time director for a full three-year term starting April 1, 2026, and running until March 31, 2029. The appointment will take effect after shareholder approval at the company’s forthcoming annual general meeting.
Alongside leadership continuity, the board approved NDTV’s unaudited financial results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2025, on both standalone and consolidated bases. The results were prepared in line with Sebi regulations and include the auditors’ report from S. N. Dhawan & Company LLP. The numbers are available on the company’s website, ndtv.com.
The board also reappointed Sanjay Gupta & Associates as cost auditor for the financial year 2026–27.
Pugalia brings decades of experience across television, digital and print media. He spent 12 years with CNBC Awaaz and was part of its launch team, served as news director at Star News, led Zee News, and was among the founding team at Aaj Tak. In print, his bylines have appeared in Business Standard and Navbharat Times, and in the 1990s he was a regular contributor to BBC Hindi Radio. Before joining NDTV, he was president and editorial director at Quint Digital Media Limited.
The company clarified that Pugalia has no family relationship with any other director on the board and faces no restrictions or adverse orders from Sebi or any other regulatory authority.
The meeting, held from 4 pm to 6 pm on Wednesday, underlined NDTV’s intent to steady the ship: secure leadership, signed-off numbers and clean governance—tidy decisions, taken fast, with little appetite for drama.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
