News Broadcasting
Pay channel rates: HC seeks government response
MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the central government for its response to a petition filed by Star India challenging the Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) order capping pricing of pay channels at Rs 5 under conditional access system (CAS).
The matter will come up for next hearing on 15 November. The court will examine whether Star’s fundamental right to do business in India stands affected by the price regulation.
Star has the option to approach the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
“Our writ petition has been admitted by the court and has been slotted for hearing on 15 November. We will only know then if our plea stands accepted or rejected,” says a Star India spokesperson.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Star, argued that the regulation of broadcasting was beyond Trai’s jurisdiction.
Star had filed an appeal in the court, challenging the basis of Trai’s recent announcement on pricing for CAS. The matter came up for hearing today.
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.
