News Broadcasting
Star News lines up year-end bonanza
MUMBAI: Star News is gearing up for the New Year and lined up a set of innovative programmes. Amongst the shows to watch out for are Deewar – featuring the most prominent relationship fallouts of 2004; Kiski Khuli Pol and Kiski Khulegi Pol – featuring the best of the trendsetting Pol Khol; Telang ki Tasveer – notable events of 2004 literally drawn out in cartoons; and a unique concept in the form of a nationwide viewer poll titled Zero No 1.
The year end specials on Star News will offer a special perspective on the year that was, while also offering a prediction on the year that will be. To round it off, viewers will also have their own say in crowning the ‘unfortunate’ misses of this year.
Deewar: The year 2004 witnessed more than its fair share of relationship fallouts in politics, business, sports and entertainment. Instance being the Gandhi-Bachchan estrangement and the even now unfolding saga of the Ambani brothers. Deewar, will be aired from 27 – 31 December at 8.30 pm and will feature some of the most significant and high profile fallouts that kept the nation engaged in 2004.
Kiski Khuli Pol and Kiski Khulegi Pol: This show is based on the popular satirical show hosted by Shekhar Suman – Pol Khol. Kiski Khuli Pol, will be a one-hour special and will be aired on 1 January, 2005 at 10 pm and will present the best of Pol Khol 2004. Meanwhile, Kiski Khulegi Pol will look forward at 2005 and showcase the events most likely to feature in Pol Khol. This will air on 2 January, 2005 at 10 pm.
Telang Ki Tasveer: Touted as an ‘out-of-the-box’ concept, this show will feature notable events of 2004 ‘drawn out’ in the form of cartoons by cartoonist Sudhir Telang and will air as special capsules within Star Savera and Desh Videsh on 31 December.
Zero No. 1: Star News will seek the people’s vote to crown this year’s biggest misses on Zero No. 1, which is a unique show that will feature the year’s biggest ‘would-be hits who missed’ from different spheres. The viewers can cast their votes on personalities from different fields whose fortunes nose-dived on the promise of a strong showing due to some unfortunate turn of events. This is an interactive exercise designed to voice the people’s view where the viewers will crown 2004’s Zero No. 1 and will be telecast from 20 – 31 December.
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.
