News Broadcasting
Sri Lanka to provide audiovisual entertainment at public places
MUMBAI: Sri Lankans will soon find themselves entertained and enlightened by television channels in bus stands and railway stations. To popularise broadcasting and television among the public, the Information and Media Ministry has initiated a project that provides audiovisual entertainment at crowded public places.
Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and the Independent Television Network are jointly sponsoring the project.
The program’s first stage is launched under the theme Gamane Giman Nivana Madhya Sathkaaraya (media sponsorship to ease tension of traveling). Starting with Colombo Fort Railway Station, the facilities will be installed in Polgahawela, Kurunegala, Maradana, Kalutara, Gampaha and Anuradhapur railway stations also.
This innovation is nothing new for the Indians. Presently Sahara’s Hindi news channel Sahara Samay holds the rights to telecast its news channels on railway stations in Mumbai. Earlier news channels NDTV and Aaj Tak had also tried their hands at providing infotainment to the public on railway stations.
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.
