News Broadcasting
Prasad meets PM, asserts CAS rollout deadline stands but softens tone
NEW DELHI: The 14 July deadline for rollout of conditional access system (CAS) stands, the government said today, though it is trying to tone down the stridency in its approach.
“The Prime Minister told me that the government should ensure that the (cable) consumers don’t end up paying higher (in a post-CAS regime) than what they are paying now,” information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told waiting journalists outside Atal Behari Vajpayee’s residence after a meeting with the PM today evening.
Asked what would be the price that the government thinks consumers are paying at present for their cable TV service, Prasad said, “The average would be between Rs 150-350.”
Upping of the limit to Rs 350 is an indicator of the fact that the government is attempting to soften what was earlier seen as a rigid stance on pricing. Prasad had earlier said that pay channels, along with the basic tier, would cost the consumers around Rs 200.
Reiterating that the deadline of 14 July for CAS implementation in the four metros stands and has got the backing of the Prime Minister, Prasad, however, again appealed to all the stakeholders of the industry, including the broadcasters, to facilitate a smooth transition to a CAS regime wherein the consumer would be king.
“I am aware of my powers in law, (but) I’ll again appeal to broadcasters to be consumer friendly,” Prasad said, adding that if the consumers are happy, then the broadcasters too would be happy.
“The law is very clear that if by the deadline (14 July) pay channels don’t declare their prices, they go off the TV screens,” Prasad added
According to the minister, he had last met the PM on CAS a month back and today he updated Vajpayee on the steps taken by the government, especially his ministry, on working towards a consumer-friendly CAS regime.
Asked whether the government is considering banning advertisements on pay channels to make the so-called errant broadcasters fall in line, Prasad said, “I am exploring every option.”
But experts say that bringing in a legislative change to rein in pay channels by banning ads on them or putting a quota on them would create problems for the government as Parliament is unlikely to okay such changes in a hurry without a thorough debate. Moreover, an ordinance in this regard aimed at cable operators or even the foreign broadcasters may not get the desired result as the next session of Parliament is round the corner and coincides with the CAS deadline.
As per law, an Ordinance has to go back to Parliament for ratification and that, again, may create problems for the government, experts say.
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.
