News Broadcasting
News18 Kannada announces the launch of Mahabharata – The Great Indian Battle of Ballot; a saga of India’s political journey
Mumbai: News18 Kannada proudly announces the launch of its latest ground-breaking series, ‘Mahabharata – The Great Indian Battle of Ballot’. This engaging program dives deep into India’s political landscape, re-counting the epic journey of the Indian election process from 1951 to 2024. The series will premiere on News18 Kannada on the 16 and 17 March 2024 at 9:30 PM. The viewers will be able to see this fascinating exploration of India’s democratic evolution.
News18 Kannada Mahabharata digs into the details of the Great Indian Ballot, from its inception in 1951 until the present day. Through extensive research and expert analysis, viewers will witness the rise and fall of political parties, winning strategies, and the dynamics of mandates over seven decades.
News18 Kannada editor Hariprasad will host this intriguing journey, offering insightful commentary and historical context to help understand the complexities of India’s electoral saga.
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.
