News Broadcasting
Rajdeep Sardesai joins India Today Group as consulting editor
MUMBAI: After a hiatus of three months, former editor-in-chief of IBN18, Rajdeep Sardesai has decided to move to India Today Group as consulting editor.
Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that he would be looking at joining TV Today in August.
Sardesai announced his new assignment via a tweet “Delighted to be joining TV Today network, India’s largest news network, as consulting editor. Looking forward to working with a great team.” He will be contributing to the revamp of the channel and its alignment with digital assets of the group.
At first, he will be doing a prime time show on its English channel Headlines Today. On his appointment, India Today Group chairman and editor-in-chief Aroon Purie said, “Rajdeep has been an asset to whichever team he has belonged to, including the cricketing ones. Great to have him with us. I know he will hit the ball out of the park for team India Today.”
Recently, the network saw Shekhar Gupta move out of his full time role into a consulting position. The network also saw Karan Thapar and Boria Majumdar join earlier this year.
Sardesai has worked with NDTV and CNN-IBN. Prior to this, he was working with Times of India in Mumbai. Recently, he just concluded writing a book on Indian elections while simultaneously launching his own website ‘Breaking Views’.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
