News Broadcasting
Smriti readies for poll battle in Delhi
MUMBAI: Popular TV serial actor Smriti Z Iraani aka Tulsi of Balaji Telefilms’ flagship show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi will be the BJP candidate in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk constitutency and will contest Kapil Sibal of the Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
PTI reports say Iraani’s name has been approved by BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu.
Confirming the same to indiantelevision.com, Iraani said that she received the confirmation from the party head office early this morning. “I had no two minds while saying yes. Ever since I put my first foot forward in this field, I have been committed and will continue to do so.”
Iraani joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in January this year, and has been one of the party’s earliest prize celebrity catches. She was appointed vice president of the party’s youth wing for a tenure of three years.
Iraani sounded tremendously upbeat and said that she would give a run for Sibal a run for his money. “Expect a tough fight from my side,” she said, adding, “The campaigning will be very fair and the BJP will not resort to any gimmicks.”
With her political career graph on the rise, what would she do if she won? Stay in Delhi? What would happen to her acting career? Iraani agreed that this was not an easy job because it would require her to serve the people of her constituency, but said she was confident that everything would fall in place when the time comes. “I can assure you of that,” she promised.
“There were only three tickets left when I was chosen and I am happy that the BJP has chosen me to serve from Delhi where I spent 22 years of my life,” concluded the 28-year old Iraani.
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.
