News Broadcasting
Radio City inducts Rana Barua as south head
MUMBAI: Radio City has made three top-level appointments to facilitate its growth and expansion plans, following the recent acquisition of 16 new FM broadcast licenses and the launch of its stations in Hyderabad, Chennai and Jaipur.
Rana Barua has been appointed as head – south zone, Mohan Vizhakat as head – technology and IT and Anil Dhimri as head – projects / infrastructure at Radio City.
As part of his new assignment, Barua will be responsible for three key markets – Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Barua is an experienced hand in the advertising industry with stints in agencies such as Rediffusion / Dentsu Y&R Mumbai, McCann – Erickson, Lowe, Ogilvy and JWT for over 10 years. Prior to joining Radio City, Barua held the position of VP and GM at Bates Enterprise, Mumbai.
The private FM radio company has also appointed Vizhakat, who has over 19 years of experience in project management, IT infrastructure management, consultancy, IT-telecom integrated solutions, networking, information security across industry segments.
Vizhakat has also received distinguished award and decoration from the president of India on the Republic Day 2001 for exemplary performance in project management during his tenure in the armed forces. A few of his previous assignments include Airtel Enterprise Solutions, Indecomm Global Services, Defence Research and Development Organization, informs an official release.
On other other hand, as head – projects / infrastructure, Dimri comes in with more than 27 years of experience, and has handled several large office infrastructure projects with emphasis on cost saving in esteemed organisations like Tata Teleservices, Tata Cellular and Tata Unisys Limited to name a few.
Radio City CEO Apurva Purohit says, “Radio City has always aimed to bring on board the best talent available. The three gentlemen, with proven credentials and ability to deliver results in their respective domains, are tremendous additions to our team. I am confident that they will help us further enhance the diversity of our offerings with their rich experience and an in-depth understanding of the industry. I welcome them to be a part of the Radio City family and wish them good luck for their new role.”
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.
