News Broadcasting
Star News to air one hour documentary on Laloo Prasad Yadav
MUMBAI: With the State assembly elections just around the corner in Bihar, Star News has prepared an hour long first-of-its-kind documentary titled Dharti Ka Laloo that captures the essence of popular politician Laloo Prasad Yadav.
The documentary, which will present a comprehensive chronicle of the life and times of this showman of Indian politics, will be aired on 30 January at 9 pm. The repeat telecast will be on 31 January at 11.30 am.
Bihar, which is considered to be India’s most ‘lawless State’ has been governed by Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for the past 15 years and Yadav is known for his laugh-a-minute style and never fails to derive mileage from talking about his humble beginnings. However, he has also been accused of corruption by his opponents, which led to his resignation as chief minister of the state. In the murky waters of Bihar politics, he managed to install his wife Rabri Devi as chief minister, and is alleged to be remote-controlling the State.
Dharti ka Laloo gets up close and personal with Yadav himself, besides recording views and opinions from his aides, opponents, friends, family members and last but not the least the people of Bihar. Dharti ka Laloo will present the man everyone would love to know better and attempt to unravel the man behind the public ‘funny’ face.
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.
