News Broadcasting
Rudy fires poll shot on Live Times’ Point Blank
MUMBAI: It was no political tea break on Point Blank, it was all straight talk. Senior BJP leader and former union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy declared that the people of Bihar have already made up their minds in favour of the NDA, as he joined journalist Deepak Chaurasia for an exclusive interview on Live Times’ flagship prime-time show Point Blank.
Confident and composed, Rudy claimed the alliance was poised for a comfortable victory in the upcoming state polls, adding that “the mood on the ground is clear and consistent.”
Live Times founder Dilip Singh, said the episode aims to bring a “fresh and factual perspective” to the political narrative ahead of the Bihar elections. “Point Blank isn’t about sensationalism; it’s about hearing the truth directly from the source,” he noted.
Viewers can catch the full interview on 5 October at 8 PM exclusively on Live Times, India’s first global multicast news hub, available on DD Free Dish (100), Tata Play (539), Airtel Digital TV (385), Dish TV (665), Sikka Cable (519), and Jio TV (359).
The show can also be streamed live on the Live Times website and social platforms including Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
Because when it comes to Bihar’s ballot buzz, Live Times promises exactly what it stands for: complete truth, whatever it takes.
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.
