News Broadcasting
Revamped IBN7 to focus on ‘news’ and not ‘views’
MUMBAI: In a bid to differentiate itself in the crowded Hindi news genre, IBN7 of the Network18 group has decided to re-launch itself once again.
It was in July 2013, that the channel had revamped itself. Now on 19 October, it will again undergo change to reposition itself with the new tag line ‘Hausla Hai’, a fresh perspective and a committed team of reporters, new shows and pacier and cleaner graphics.
Network 18 News president Umesh Upadhyay stated that the re-launch will be a defining milestone for the channel.
“Our increased focus on news as against just views, clean look and feel, our unmatched footprint and coverage and our focus on strong journalistic values will resonate with the Hindi news viewers. We already have an exceptionally strong team with senior journalists like Sanjeev Paliwal and MK Jha which has become stronger, more vibrant and more credible with the addition of our new team members.”
With over 2,200 reporters across the country, the channel plans to focus on providing more news as opposed to views and opinions that it says have become the norm on most news channels.
The changes at the channel are being fronted by established faces of television like Sumit Awasthi, Richa Anirudh and Akash Soni along with Navjyot Kaur, Tejasvi Chandok Nayyar, Payal Bhuyan, Himani Naithani, Pankaj Bhargava, Amrit Anand and the channel’s present team of journalists and reporters.
As part of the new launch, IBN7 will also be launching several new shows. From a programme that will showcase news from every nook and corner of the country called Desh Din Bhar to a big town, big story show named Rajdhani Express and a show dedicated to the latest buzz and trends in the social media space called INews. The prime time programming on IBN7 is also being strengthened with a new show Aath Baje which will be a round-up of news and will also deep dive into major issues. This will be followed by a rejuvenated India Nau Baje which will have short format news, packages and newsmaker interviews and a new crime bulletin called Crime News.
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.
