News Broadcasting
Sahara TV aims to bang the Hindi entertainment market
One more channel joins the entertainment bandwagon. Sahara TV was launched yesterday amidst much fanfare. And this one’s claiming freshness in its content too.
The channel officials said that they have pre-tested each of their programmes before commissioning them. The channel which has hi-tech studio facilities at Noida as well as Mumbai, says that it will avoid reruns as far as possible as it has 11 hours of daily fresh content. Sahara is placing a lot of emphasis on the look as well as quality of the channel. Plus many reputed TV producers & directors have been commissioned to make programmes for Sahara TV. According to the officials, the channel has also tried to create new genres of programming in order to provide freshness to the channel.
When asked about the distribution network of the channel, a senior official said that “Sahara TV has the largest distribution team in the television industry. We have worked out a comprehensive support plan for cable distributors, which include ready information on equipment upgradation, easy finance schemes and a helpline. Besides Sahara India Pariwar is a household name in the Hindi belt. Also our 6 lac committed workers as a part of the pariwar will help promote the channel all over the country. Thus we expect a cable penetration of 65% of the total 30-million C&S homes to start with.” The channel is also looking at forming their own DTO bouquet and forging alliances with other channels. But first it will concentrate on its main entertainment channel.
The channel is also closely monitoring Internet as a powerful communication medium of the future.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
