News Broadcasting
Rakesh Kumar Singh steps up as managing editor at India News
NEW DELHI: Rakesh Kumar Singh has been promoted to managing editor at India News, the flagship channel of iTV Network, in a move that strengthens the broadcaster’s political and policy coverage.
Singh has spent more than a decade with the network and is best known for his reporting from the power corridors of New Delhi. Over the years he has covered Parliament, the prime minister’s office, the home ministry and the external affairs ministry, alongside several other key government departments.
The elevation reflects iTV Network’s focus on sharpening its editorial leadership at a time when political journalism is becoming faster, more competitive and more closely scrutinised.
In his new role, Singh will oversee the channel’s news agenda and newsroom operations, bringing his experience in governance and policy reporting to the top of the editorial stack.
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.
