News Broadcasting
News Nation readies second channel launch as it celebrates first anniversary
MUMBAI: As the country heads into general elections, there’s a regional Hindi news channel being added.
As it celebrates its first anniversary today, News Nation, a national Hindi news channel, has geared up to enter the regional news channel space with the launch of a channel for the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
News Nation’s news channel for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand is all set to be launched on 19 February. The new channel already has 200 employees on board. The dry runs of the news channel are on but the name of the channel has not yet been disclosed.
The Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand channel will operate from two main offices in Lucknow and Dehradun and have bureaus in 10 other cities, including in Varanasi, Jhansi, Meerut and Agra.
News Nation’s Senior Editor Ranjeet Kumar will be the editorial head of the Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand channel.
The channel on the launch day will be available to all cable TV viewers in the two states as well as to subscribers of DTH television service provider Freedish.
News Nation has invested almost Rs 50 crore in its second news channel. A marketing campaign for the new channel, like in the case of News Nation, will follow a month after the launch.
The new channel will initially be free of advertisements. “We have a rule that we let the people sample the content we have, get the ratings and then reach out to advertisers,” says News Nation CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Shailesh Kumar.
The programming of the channel will be youth focussed. The vibrant colours of the two states will reflect in the logo as compared to the neutral logo of the national channel.
The Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand news channel will not have the usual programming focussed on entertainment, crime and astrology. The channel will have hard news but minus any sensationalism. “You can compare News Nation to any international channel,” says Kumar buoyantly.
The network has ambitious plans to expand its presence in the country. “We are currently studying markets to identify areas that are lacking good quality news channels and after that we will choose our locations,” says Kumar. He also added that there is no restriction on staying just in the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM).
According to TAM data provided by the channel, News Nation has garnered an average of 68 TVTs between weeks 3 and 6 for CS 15+ age group in the HSM.
News Nation is looking at signing annual advertisement deals with various clients before the election season sets in. Currently, it only has four to five minutes of advertising per hour.
After having built a credible space for itself within a year, News Nation is optimistic that its first regional channel will also achieve similar success.
“The road for us was not easy as this is an extremely cluttered genre. We clearly understood that there was a need for a Hindi news channel which was aggressive yet relevant, a channel based on pure news content yet blooming with new ideas and therefore, we came up with News Nation and within months of its launch it crossed over its competitors in terms of ratings,” says Kumar.
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.
