News Broadcasting
Nikhil Wagle to helm new Marathi news channel Maharashtra One
MUMBAI: The Marathi news industry is soon going to see a new addition with the launch of a 24×7 news channel called Maharashtra One. The national news channel operating in Marathi is speculated to launch within the next two months.
Veteran journalist renowned for his brave and flawless journalism Nikhil Wagle has been roped in as the editor-in-chief of the channel.
Speaking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com Wagle says, “I will join the channel on 1st September, and then eventually we will form a team which will have both young and experienced minds. My role will be to make sure that we are presenting quality, credible and timely content to our consumers.”
Sources in the industry inform that there have been a series of resignations in IBN Lokmat recently. It is speculated that many of them are slated to join Maharashtra One. Eminent journalists from ABP Majha and Zee 24 Taas are also said to be linked with the new channel.
“There are many senior journalists who have shown interest and will join the team but it’s too early to take names. There are a few who I have worked with before in past organisations who will be joining the team,” asserts Wagle.
The channel will also have a bureau office in Delhi as well as in other parts of the country informs Wagle.
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.
