News Broadcasting
New NBA member Republic TV wants regional & web players in
MUMBAI: Republic TV seems to have buried the hatchet with News Broadcasters Association and joined the body in what the former calls “in the larger interest of the ecosystem.” Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani on Monday morning confirmed the development after the editor Arnab Goswami told Indiantelevision.com that he wanted Khanchandani to speak on the development.
It may be recalled that Republic TV’s ratings success, soon after the 6-May launch, was not uneventful. The NBA had written to BARC India not to publish the new channel’s data until it’s cleared of wrongdoing on allegations of multiple feeds (LCNs). But, Goswami had discounted the importance of NBA, calling it a “cabal” — a toothless body now used for lobbying and run by 4-5 people.
However, Khanchandani now tells Indiantelevision.com: “NBA needs to be democratised with wider representation and voice from the various regional news players. We are looking forward to playing an instrumental role to make it an inclusive body. There is also a need and opportunity to expand the canvas / scope as a leading industry body in the light of ever-increasing consumption of news content over the web.”
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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.
