News Broadcasting
Sahara Samay NCR rebrands to Samay Rajasthan
MUMBAI: Recently, quite a few television channels have been in the news for sending their employees packing home. However, Subrata Roy’s Sahara Network seems to be hitting the headlines for anything but.
Indiantelevision.com has it from reliable sources that the Sahara Samay Network (regional channels) has had a makeover of sorts. Possibly driven by the realisation that stagnancy impacts viewership adversely, one of the network’s channels, Sahara Samay NCR – which hitherto served the states of Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan – has rebranded itself as Samay Rajasthan, and will henceforth cater exclusively to Rajasthan.
On 18 September at 8:00 pm, the logo of Sahara Samay NCR changed to the new logo of Samay Rajasthan. The transformation was assisted by a show with eight anchors sporting traditional Rajasthani wear. An election show was aired between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm to inaugurate the rebranded channel.
Apparently, the decision to go state-specific was taken after a careful analysis of the channel’s content and need. “We felt that Rajasthan needed exclusive dedication and by being in three different states, we weren’t giving them justice,” says Sahara Samay Editor (Network Operations) and News Co-ordination Sanjay Banerjee.
It was five to six months ago that the idea took seed. A strategy was adopted to try and be creative with the content of the rebranded channel. A decision to include soft news too was taken, keeping in mind the cultural heritage of the state. Airing only political news wouldn’t have been conducive with the channel’s objective to attract all types of audiences.
With ads being displayed through hoardings, newspapers and FM channels, “People in Rajasthan were already aware about the channel so we didn’t have to put in much effort,” says Banerjee.
Speaking about the rebranded channel, it will continue to be a 24-hour Hindi news channel. For now, it will be available only on cable (analog and digital) and internet, lagging behind in D2H.
Earlier on, only one bureau existed in Jaipur whereas seven more have now been added in strategic locations like Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Kota, Alwar and Bharatpur. To impart a local flavour to the news, reporters and cameramen have been hired from local places while basic resources such as graphics and stock footage are shared within the network. Ravi Parashar has been appointed editor of the channel.
With Rajasthan already having a clutch of Hindi news channels, the latest addition being Zee Rajasthan Plus, how will Samay Rajasthan fare? Well, Banerjee is confident it will lead other newbies at least in terms of content.
Then again, the decision to revamp has two sides: Haryana has lost out on a channel while Rajasthan has gained one with focused coverage. The question now is will Rajasthan change its viewing patterns?
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.
