News Broadcasting
Star Plus readies ‘Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand’ for a makeover
MUMBAI: Something is definitely brewing on the sets of Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand. When quizzed, both the channel and the producers have a common refrain – “It is something that you have never seen on Indian television before.”
Maybe the slipping TRPs or the prosaic story line resulted in the call for an overhaul, but it is rather interesting to speculate on what the makers will come up with, especially since they have already exhausted every possible twist and turn in the book.
‘Never seen before’ tag almost cancels out the routine amnesia, amazing plastic surgeons, premature greying or lack of it. But industry mills are abuzz with couple of possibilities…
Story No. One: Star Plus does what it does the best; put the story into the time machine and whoosh!, the romantic lead Dev and Pammi are now parents of an 18-year-old charming daughter, who accidentally happens to be an exact replica of her mother. Looking at the suggested story flow, Sweta Keswani, who plays the vamp Anu and Amar Upadhayay Dev /Raj are likely to opt out.
Both Keswani and Upadhyaya have previously denounced the ‘mature’ roles (during their last stint), so that pretty much rules out them. Rumour has it that even the main protagonists Sangeeta Ghosh, who plays Pammi and Varun Badola, who plays Dev/Rohit would be bumped off eventually.
So far so good, but when contacted Upadhayay vehemently denied that he is averse to playing an older guy. Ghosh, however, remained tightlipped and yet a little morose about the entire proceeding, which brings us to our Story Number Two.
Radical changes are in store for DMNHC, say industry sources. Apparently, the channel might just bid the entire cast good-bye. So there should be a slew of fresh faces and a fresh story in the pipeline. While channel sources remain tight-lipped, production house sources say they don’t want to reveal anything till they get a green signal from the channel.
As of what we know, the next episode will show Dev and Pammi (Upadhyay and Ghosh) unite again. And to put an end to the twisted story line, will come back to India – away from the evil and the prying eyes and away from their family and loved ones.
But the channel sources hint that just as things seem to be coming to a ‘happily ever after’ conclusion, in will come the ‘big change’.
Although it seems like the Story Number Two is the lead contender, two days of brainstorming does not seem to have made any clearer what drama is in store for the ‘unsuspecting’ viewer…
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.
