News Broadcasting
News provider NDTV wants entertainment channel
Another player is eyeing the entertainment segment. This time it is the Prannoy Roy-promoted New Delhi Television (NDTV) which is quietly working on a plan to launch a channel of that ilk by mid- to end 2002. The name has not been decided as yet, (though daily Business Standard says it has been called NDTV World but the idea is to start the content aggregation for the channel by mid-2001. Currently, NDTV is in talks with financial institutions to fund the foray. NDTV is a partner of Rupert Murdoch’s Star TV in Star News and provides it with the daily news that has become synonymyous with Prannoy Roy.
NDTV has little experience in entertainment programming though it is producing two shows for Star TV along with BBC based on the Yes Minister! and Yes Prime Minister series. This apart it also showcases developments in the glamour and tinsel world on its news channels.
The move is being seen by observers as a preparatory move by NDTV to have its own media vehicle for carriage of its content should its relationship with Star TV for Star News not last out its full course till 2003. Star TV chief Peter Mukerjea has reportedly not been too happy about the manner in which the agreement betwen the two tilts in favour of NDTV.
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.
