News Broadcasting
Shiv Sena ransacks Mumbai office of IBN7, IBN Lokmat
MUMBAI: IBN7 and IBN Lokmat’s Mumbai office was ransacked by Shiv Sena activists on Friday, using iron rods, cricket stumps and baseball bats.
A mob of 20-30 people attacked journalists and damaged property at the offices of the IBN Network. The attackers told employees that they would not accept reports criticizing the Shiv Sena and their supremo Bal Thackeray.
The police later arrested seven Shiv Sena activists for vandalising these offices.
Meanwhile, eight Shiv Sena workers in Pune were arrested for damaging an IBN7 OB van and pelting stones at the channel’s office in the city.
Reportedly, attackers in Mumbai told employees they were looking for IBN Lokmat editor-in-chief Nikhil Wagle, and wanted to “teach him a lesson”.
Condemning the attack, Broadcast Editors’ Association has issued a statement, describing it as an “attack on freedom of expression” and the handiwork of elements who want to undermine the role of pen, microphone and camera. “Such attacks go against the basic tenets of democracy and need to be condemned in the harshest possible terms,” it said.
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.
