News Broadcasting
Network18 appoints Maruti Indoria as business head for CricketNext
MUMBAI: Network18, India’s most diversified media conglomerate today announced the appointment of Maruti Indoria as Business Head for CricketNext. CricketNext is one of Indian sub-continent’s most read and followed cricket website. A dynamic website, which offers its viewers live ball-by-ball coverage of all international matches and news ranging from match reports to inside scoops on cricket stars and the functioning of cricket associations across the globe, CricketNext is every cricket lover’s one-stop destination. Anil Kumble is the brand ambassador for the site.
With over fifteen years of experience across Ad Sales, Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing, Maruti joins Network18 from SonyLIV Sports. He was heading monetization for SonyLIV Sports, where he was responsible for driving revenues from marquee properties like FIFA World Cup, multiple India Cricket series, and other premium sports like MotoGP, NBA, WWE etc. Before SonyLIV, he has worked with Times Internet, DB Digital, Sify Technologies and Business Standard in revenue roles. Along the way he also had his own start-up in Social Media Marketing.
Maruti is a post-graduate in Marketing from Mumbai University. He will be based in Network18’s office in Mumbai and report to Puneet Singhvi, Head – Network18 Digital.
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.
