News Broadcasting
Sanjay Khan churns out fresh mytho, historical for DD
MUMBAI: Sanjay Khan’s Numero Uno International Limited (NUIL), is launching two mega serials under its banner during the next week on DD National.
Maharathi Karna, a portrayal of the Mahabharata from the viewpoint of Karna, throws light on the life of this unsung hero adding a new perspective to this epic tale. The other serial, 1857 – Kranti, tells the story of Indias first war of independence. Both serials, directed by Khan himself, will be telecast on Doordarshan National. Maharathi Karna will be telecast every Wednesday and Thursday starting January 1, 2003 between 9 and 9.30 pm and 1857 – Kranti is to be telecast from December 29, 2002 onwards every Sunday between 11 and noon.
Khan, whose last offering Mahabharat on Zee TV last October was touted as the most expensive serial till date, has plans to go regional in the near future. According to an official release, the production house is toying with the idea of more acquisitions in languages other than Hindi and in-house productions for private channels. NUIL has also started operations in London to focus on international business opportunities where it plans to co produce with acclaimed production houses such as Hallmark Entertainment and Yorkshire Television, UK.
Formed in 1991-92, Numero Uno is responsible for historical and mythological programmes like The Sword of Tipu Sultan, The Great Maratha and Jai Hanuman. Since 1999, the company has started n-house marketing activities and acquisition and marketing of programmes other than its own, on Doordarshan and Sun TV.
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.
