News Broadcasting
Network18 beefs up business news editorial set up
MUMBAI: It’s taking steps to strengthen its business news team. For starters, it has announced the appointment of Network18 long timer (currently president & editorial director TV18 Business Media) Senthil Chengalvarayan as the editor in chief of what it calls the Network18 Business Newsroom – comprising its market leading broadcast and digital news outlets in the business media space, CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC-TV18 Prime HD and Moneycontrol.com. The newsroom is slated to act as a common hub to ensure seamless broadcast and digital synergies from both a newsgathering and output perspective across these brands, which cumulatively attract over 40 million viewers and 15 million unique visitors on an average every month, says a company press release.
In this new capacity, Senthil will be working closely with R. Jagannathan, editor-In-chief of Network18’s web and publishing stable which includes Moneycontrol.com, CNBC Awaaz editor in chief Sanjay Pugalia, CNBC Awaaz and the editorial leads at CNBC-TV18.
The management has also pushed senior editors Menaka Doshi and Latha Venkatesh upstairs as executive editors. While Menaka will lead corporate reportage, law and associated areas, Latha Venkatesh will take charge of the banking and financial markets vertical.
|
|||
|
This follows managing editor Udayan Mukherjee’s decision to work with the group in an exclusive consultative capacity and the appointment of Shereen Bhan as his replacement. “As the country’s leading broadcast and digital player in business news, we are well-positioned to redefine the category in the context of a converging media landscape. The Network18 Business Newsroom is designed to capitalise on the deep engagement and trust our iconic brands enjoy. We are confident that the editorial leadership team under Senthil’s guidance will be able to craft a new paradigm in business media, ” said Network18 founder and editor Raghav Bahl in the press release making these announcements. “..As they (CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and Moneycontrol) propel ahead in their growth journey, it is imperative that we fuse their editorial strengths in a manner that enhances our offering further and the Network18 Business Newsroom fulfills this objective. In Senthil, Menaka and Latha, we have the most trusted voices in business journalism today and we believe that they will bring their deep expertise and insights to bear at the Newsroom,” added Network18 Group COO B. Sai Kumar. “I am a firm believer in the benefit that the Network18 Business Newsroom can unleash for our stellar editorial products. We pioneered business news on television and the web in India and the Newsroom is a natural extension of our successful journey,“ expounded Network18 Business Newsroom editor-in-chief Senthil Chengalvarayan. “I believe that it will achieve two critical objectives for us. It’ll ensure that each of our brands access the best editorial expertise across the Group while they continue to fulfill their distinct editorial propositions. And they’ll do so through a structure that capitalises on the new realities in the media landscape.” |
|||
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.
