News Broadcasting
Newspaper pullout readers skewed towards 25-34 age group SEC A,B
MUMBAI: This is a piece of news that should make advertisers in newspapers pay attention. Pull outs that is sections of newspapers like Times Of India’s (TOI) Bombay Times, Education Times, Mid-day’s Go, Play, Economic Times’ Brand Equity are most likely to be read by those in the 25-34 age group SEC A,B.
The only exceptions are the education and property sections where SECs C and D start to make their presence felt.
These were just a few of the findings contained in the new research study Sparr conducted by Media Research Users Council (MRUC). Sparr stands for Sections, Pullouts and Attitudinal Readership Research. The aim was to provide an understanding of the nuances of reader’s habits towards newspaper pullouts and sections.
The survey was conducted from July – August 2003 for Mumbai with a sample size of 1920. 100 per cent back checks were done in all 11 dailies and 50 pullouts were surveyed. MRUC will also be releasing a study on FM Radio in the first quarter of next year.
MRUC’s Roda Mehta delivered a presentation saying that daily pullouts behaved differently from weekly pullouts. An interesting find is that women are biased towards Marathi pullouts. Not surprisingly for the TOI among SEC A its edit and international pages score the highest. Celebrities may be desperate to appear in page three of Bombay Times. However the survey revealed that while a third of TOI’s readers read the section six times a week over half read it
less than three times each week.
Another issue relates to the average issue readership versus the claimed readership. For TOI the AIR is 55 per cent of the claimed readership. However when you check the pullouts the figure shoots up. For the Educational Times the figure is 87 per cent. For Ascent it is an impressive 91 per cent. For Gujarati publications the AIR is as high as the claimed readership. For Loksatta all pullouts rank high in popularity among the SEC A group 25+.
The overall business readership for the newspapers surveyed ranges from 15-42 per cent. It is at its highest for the TOI. The sports readership ranges from 43-65 per cent. The edit section is between 24- 46 per cent of the readers.
News Broadcasting
Rising Bharat Summit 2026 spotlights India’s global ascent
PM Modi keynotes two-day event with ministers, diplomats and icons in New Delhi.
MUMBAI: India didn’t just host a summit, it threw a coming-out party for a nation ready to own the global stage. The News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026, held on 27–28 February in New Delhi, emerged as a high-octane platform for ideas, vision and strategic dialogue, uniting national leadership, global policymakers, industry titans, defence strategists and cultural icons under the theme “Strength Within”.
Prime minister Narendra Modi set the tone with a keynote that framed India’s resurgence as a reclaiming of lost potential built over generations. “In previous industrial revolutions, India and the Global South were merely followers,” he said. “But in the era of Artificial Intelligence, India is a partner in decisions and shaping them.” He highlighted the country’s thriving AI startup ecosystem and the recent AI Impact Summit attended by over 100 nations.
Union minister Piyush Goyal (Commerce & Industry) stressed India’s readiness to scale exports and deepen manufacturing, while Ashwini Vaishnaw (Railways, I&B, Electronics & IT) positioned technology and infrastructure as twin engines of growth, especially in AI and digital trust. Jyotiraditya Scindia (Communications & North East Development) revealed India’s ambition to lead in 6G through the Bharat 6G Alliance and partnerships with over 30 countries.
Global voices added depth: former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo called India’s development “self-sustaining” and strategically vital; ex-UK Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter asserted India deserves a seat at the great powers’ table; and former US Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez joined ambassadors from Norway, Germany and Sweden in discussions on geopolitical realignment, sustainability and defence preparedness.
Other speakers included veteran investor Ramesh Damani, World Gold Council CEO David Tait, Vianai Systems founder Dr Vishal Sikka, DeepTech Bharat Foundation co-founder Shashi Shekhar Vempati, defence experts Rajesh Kumar Singh, Sunil Ambekar, Patrick McGee, Tom Cooper and Adrian Fontanellaz, plus cultural and sporting icons Kangana Ranaut, Saina Nehwal, PR Sreejesh, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mithali Raj, Anil Kapoor and Yami Gautam.
The summit was supported by Jio Financial Services (Presenting Partner), Phonepe and DS Group (Co-Presenting Partners), Pernod Ricard India and Kia Seltos (Powered By & Driven By), state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand (State Partners), and associate partners including NSE, M3M Foundation and Reliance Industries.
Broadcast live across News18 Network, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, the event reinforced India’s image as a confident democracy and emerging global power proving that when strength comes from within, the world can’t help but watch.
