News Broadcasting
Smriti Mehra elevated to Executive Vice President, Focus at Network18
After stints with Discovery Channel, Arré and Turner Broadcasting, Smriti Mehra returned home to Network18 Group last year. The company today announced her elevation as EVP – Focus, to head revenue. She will report to Priyanka Kaul – President, Marketing & Special Projects, Network18.
Smriti brings with her over 16 years of rich experience as a Sales Professional with a demonstrated history of working in the broadcast media industry. During her first stint with Network18, Smriti was National Head for CNBC-TV18 Focus.
Commenting on the appointment, Smriti said, “I’m so very excited to be taking on this role as I think Network18 Focus has pioneered the concept of partnering with clients to create platforms of engagement for brands and businesses. And I look forward to working with the fabulous team at Network18 and create more firsts and bigger properties.”
Smriti has done Masters in Management from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies.
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.
