News Broadcasting
Network 18 Q3 net profit Rs 270 million
MUMBAI: Network 18 Media & Investments has declared its third quarter results. Its consolidated net sales were up Up 60 per cent (QoQ) at Rs 1.854 billion.
Network18’s consolidated net profit was at Rs 270 million (vs Losses of Rs 122.1 million in Q2) and it declared maiden (interim) dividend of 25 per cent.
Network18 MD Raghav Bahl said: “We are extremely happy to share this quarter’s financial performance of the group. Our Channels are maintaining their leadership positions. We are witnessing a strong revenue growth in Web18 properties. Some new businesses are ahead of their business plans and others are doing as per expectations. The group has made a big entry in the print space with the acquisition of Infomedia. We wish to share the fruits of our strong entry into the phase of “profitable growth” with our shareholders by declaring an interim dividend of 25 per cent.”
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.
