News Broadcasting
Star News initiates ground events for upcoming assembly elections
MUMBAI: As the political battle to decide Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana wages on, Star News has launched an extensive on-ground initiatives to connect with the people and their issues.
The channel has rolled out two on-ground initiatives as part of its special coverage for the three state assembly elections. With these initiatives, the channel is looking to reach out to the common man and bring to light their views, opinions and dissent.
To start with, Star News has rolled out two election raths, which will traverse the length and breadth of Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana, visiting around 50 towns in a month-long activity creating awareness and promoting the election specials of Star News.
In a move designed to attract and involve voters, these vans will have interactive games for people based on the election theme. People can participate in these games and win exciting prizes. These vans will also air the channel live in all these towns, to reach out to the people and bring to them up-to-date elections coverage and other news.
The vans will also muster awareness about the on-ground debates titled Kahiye Netaji (featuring live on Star News) to be conducted in certain specific towns across the three states and encourage them to participate.
In the second initiative, three Star News teams will tour various towns across the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana respectively. These teams will present a detailed report on each town, featuring its history, its culture, the problems facing the people, the political developments over the years and most importantly chats involving the people and their local leaders. Starting 17 January, these reports are being aired daily as part of the election special bulletin in special segments titled Magadh Express and Haryana Roadways.
Star News’ bouquet of election programming Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri includes daily bulletins, opinion polls, live debates, exit polls, counting day specials, travelogues, satire in Pol Khol and a host of other exciting initiatives.
The coverage has kick started with a daily news bulletin – Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri – providing the latest news on the elections, which is aired daily at 5.30 pm and at 8.30 pm from Monday to Friday.
Pehli Tasveer – The first opinion poll special was telecast on 15 January and looked at the initial signs of the emerging political scenario in the three states. A second round of the opinion poll will be conducted and its findings presented closer to the polls on 29 January at 9 pm.
Kahiye Netaji will provide the electorate with a chance and a platform to interact and quiz their local netas on all the issues they want to. This show will feature live and uncensored debates across the three states, every day at 6.30 pm starting 22 January.
The programming includes specials for all the days of polling and the counting day. The viewers will also get a lighthearted look at the elections through special episodes of Pol Khol, cartoons and other forms of satire. And last but not the least the programming would come to a conclusive end through a post poll special.
Mahesh Rangarajan, noted political analyst and commentator would be Star News’ resident expert throughout this elections coverage and would provide analysis and commentary on the election drama as it unfolds.
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.
