News Broadcasting
Six new launches on tube this week
MUMBAI: Seems like loads of actions happening on telly this week. While Sab TV launches two new shows, AXN, CNBC and Star World will be releasing one show each.
Adhikari Brothers promoted channel will be launching a chat show Carryy on Shekhar hosted by Shekhar Suman and a comedy called Shri Sifarashilal, on 3 November. Besides that, Sab TV will also be launching a brand new season of Anupam Kher hosted Say Na Something to Anupam Uncle.
Similar to his previous stand up cum talk shows like Sony’s Movers and Shakers and Zee’s Simply Shekhar, Carryy on Shekhar is an entertaining mix of Shekhar’s satirical comments on current events, tete a tetes with celebrities’ political debates and topical discussions. Produced by Sab TV, the show will telecast from Monday to Thursday at 10 pm.
Next in the pipeline is a comedy show on the lines of the channel’s hit comedies Office Office and Yeh Public Hai Yeh Sab Jaanti Hai, Shri Sifarashilal. Aired every Monday-Thursday at 9:00 pm, the show will have a tongue in cheek approach to exposing social ills. While the Anupam Kher’s take on Bill Cosby’s Kids say the darnest things, Say Na Something to Anupam Uncle, will air every Monday and Tuesday at 8:00 pm.
Meanwhile CNBC-TV18’s new show plans to offer a tough competition to Shekhar Suman. In a bid to buttress its weekend viewing has got back the double Emmy Award winner and multiple Emmy nominee Jay Leno as a one hour show premiering on Saturday, 1 November 2003 at 1 pm.
Tonight show with Jay Leno will add an international flavour to the Sunday Brunch band, which comprises of lineup of unique weekend shows: The Auto Show, Trendmill, Storyboard and Goodlife.
Considered by many to be a “variety” show, Leno shows apart from the witty opening monologue and comedy segments also include celebrity interviews from the famous to the ordinary, musicians to comics, talented pets to the Fruitcake Lady, Jay’s couch sees a lot of action, says a company release.
Offering a change in the menu is AXN newest launch The Shield. Action and adventure channel AXN will launch hard-hitting reality series, revolving around a bizarre concept of morality and ethics, The Shield in India, from 2 November. Every Sunday, the channel will air two episodes of the series, starring Michael Chiklis, CCH Pounder and Benito Martinez, back-to-back at 10 pm.
Finally to make the entire platter more delectable is Star World move towards lifestyle segment. The Star’s English entertainment channel will be launching a five-week weekly series, theMilan Fashion Week, scheduled to air on Sundays from 2 November to 30 November at 9:00 pm.
The channel has roped in actor Gauri Karnik, to anchor the Milan Fashion Week. Actor Rahul Bose has been roped in to do a special on mens’ fashion. Canned in a heritage show format, the show trails the anchor who presents the show in a first person format. Karnik will not only be focusing on Tahiliani’s line, she will be getting sound bites from his famous clientele including Kabir Bedi, Nikki Bedi, Jemima Khan, Parmeshwar Godrej, Simi Garewal and Mehr Jessia. That apart, each episode will bring to the viewers a different facet of Milan, its fashion, its essence and the sights and sounds of the international fashion shows.
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.
