News Broadcasting
Star Gold launches ‘Gold Premiere’
MUMBAI: It’s been a very good year for Star Gold, so far. Or so they claim. The Hollywood dubbed movies feat aside, the movie channel is looking at firming up its line up with new innovations like the Pepsi Gold Sabse Favourite Kaun, and the latest one Gold Premiere.
Having charted a good course for itself this year as well, the movie channel says it is ready to train its guns against the big guns. Channel shares, according to Tam data, have grown over 54 per cent this year.
Besides the new programming initiative, the next big dubbed movie to premier on the channel will be the Russell Crowe blockbuster Gladiator.
Source: TAM, Channel Shares, C&S 4+, Wk 21-24 of 2003 & 2004,
Hindi Speaking Markets (as applicable for the period Wk21-24/03)
Gold Premiere is a tie-up with movie makers to enable viewers to watch a full 15 minutes of the film, prior to its release in theatres. According to Star India senior VP content and communications Deepak Segal, “The attempt is to come up with a curtain raiser that is bigger than a trailer or a preview of the film.”
Starting this week on Thursday, 8 July at 8 pm, the first movie to be shown is the Salman Khan starrer Garv. Star Gold has tied up with the film as its official TV partner for promotions on the channel.
Besides enabling the viewers to watch 15 minutes of the film one day before it is released in theatres, the half hour weekly will also have Shilpa Shetty and Arbaaz Khan – Salman’s co-stars in the film – anchoring the show and offering some information about the film, without revealing the climax of course.
In a bid to popularise the band, the channel has organised a contest too. The winners will win tickets for the star-studded Sunday premiere by sending an SMS to 7827. While the contest is will be on air from 1 to 7 July, Star Gold will also present Proud 2B Salman – a Salman Khan Film Festival from 5 to 9 July everyday at 4:30 pm. The films that will be screened during this festival are Hello Brother on 5 July, Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge on 6 July, Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya on 7 July, Biwi No. 1 on 8 July and Auzaar on 9 July.
The next movie titles for the Gold Premier are Rajiv Rai’s Asambhav and Tarzan – The Wonder Car.
Source: TAM, Base: C&S 4+, Week 1/2003 to Wk 24/2004
Channel Shares, Hindi Speaking Markets
With the addition of the new programming initiatives, the channel hopes to build on the success of its earlier launches like the Sunday afternoon countdown show Startoons, Maya and award show PSGSFK. “We received about 450,000 entries for the contest around PGSFK. It became as popular because I think we offered something different to the audience that has been satiated with the usual award shows,” offered a company spokesperson.
Whether the line up can combat the powerful competition is a matter for speculation. But the channel sure has come a long way from it’s struggling for a recall status days.
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.
