News Broadcasting
News Nation UP/Uttarakhand strengthens sales team
MUMBAI: By virtue of its size and population, Uttar Pradesh is an important state not only for politicians but also for news channels.
So, in February this year, before the Lok Sabha elections took off, News Nation launched its first regional channel, News Nation Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand.
Now that the polls are over, the channel plans to boost its sales team and increase the number of advertisers on board.
“The Uttar Pradesh market is a priority due to its population. We are looking at hiring about four to five people to deal with UP clients,” says News Nation senior VP head of sales and marketing Abhay Ojha. The appointees will be based out of Kanpur, Noida, Gurgaon, DehraDun and eastern UP.
Advertisers being targeted include educational institutes, tea companies, small and medium enterprises and hosiery and footwear manufacturers, among others. Apparently, 40 per cent of national advertisers have already decided to be part of the regional channel while the rest would be roped in by the new team expected to be in place within a month’s time.
“Currently, our focus is on improving content. We adopted the same strategy for the national channel and went without ads for a while to up the ratings,” says Ojha, claiming that the national channel has 85 brands currently.
Ad rates for prime time in the state fall between Rs 500 and Rs 1200. With big players likes ETV UP/Uttarakhand, Zee Sangam, Sahara Samay Uttar Pradesh, India News UP/Uttarakhand and Samachar Plus UP/Uttarakhand in the fray, it’s going to be a challenging road ahead for News Nation UP/Uttarakhand.
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.
