News Broadcasting
Sahara One to launch new weekend chat show on 15 July
MUMBAI: Sahara One Television will be launching a new chat show – Mrs Punjabi – on 15 July. The half hour show will be aired on Saturdays and Sundays at 7.30 pm, just before the 8 pm movie on the channel.
In the first episode, the show, whose anchor’s name is being kept under wraps by the channel will have Shahrukh Khan, Mallika Sherawat and Mahesh Bhatt together on Indian television for the first time.
The show feasts on hot gossips as Mrs Punjabi unveils the secrets and buried facts about her special guests, behind the scenes of latest Bollywood blockbusters, star party circuits and much more. Touted as a light hearted show that promises to unburden your woes, the show seems more on the likes of Kandy Floss on Sony, which is being hosted by Archana Pooran Singh.
“Humor makes friends, wins enemies and this show will make viewers unwind and laugh at issues that would otherwise end up as stressful experiences,” said Sahara One Television COO Purnendu Bose.
Mrs. Punjabi is a typical Page 3 wannabe aunty with huge assets and flashy make up and low-necklines and an even lower IQ.
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.
