News Broadcasting
Sanjeev Srivastava to head Sahara’s media biz
MUMBAI: Sahara India Pariwar has appointed Sanjeev Srivastava as CEO and editor-in-chief, heading all media related activities of the Group.
Srivastava, currently India editor at BBC, will take up this new role starting January. He comes with over 25 years of experience in journalism with various media organisations including the Times of India and Indian Express. Working for 16 years with the BBC, he most recently led the entire BBC Hindi output generated from India across all platforms of delivery, including FM, short wave and online.
Sahara has also appointed Upendra Rai as editor and news director. Both Srivastava and Rai will be reporting directly to Sahara Group chairman Subrata Roy.
Meanwhile, Rai is coming back to Sahara from Star News where he was senior editor. Rai started his career as a journalist with the Sahara group for over 12 years ago.
Roy says: “Sahara enjoys a loyal base of audiences across print and electronic media, but we realise that we cannot afford to be complacent. I am confident that Srivastava, with his experience and vision, will strengthen and streamline our offering across the entire media spectrum. Rai’s skill and expertise will complement this endeavour and together they will lead Sahara’s media offerings to scale greater heights. Their appointment is part of Sahara’s strategy to secure a rightful place in a highly competitive environment.”
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.
