News Broadcasting
Star’s new karaoke show snaps up Sonu Nigam
Star Plus, the flagship channel of the Star group, seems determined to tap all genres in the slew of new programmes it is unleashing in 2002.
Commencing end February or early March, the channel will start a new music based show to be anchored by what once was Zee’s hot property – Sonu Nigam. The young singer took the talent show Sa Re Ga Ma to the height of the popularity charts for nearly five years, charming viewers with both his youthful good looks and his obvious talent for the art and the medium. After Nigam quit the show, Aman and Ayaan Ali Bangash, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s sons, took over Sa Re Ga Ma, but could not retain the ratings.
After a while in hibernation, Nigam has now been snapped by Star Plus to host a celebrity based karaoke show that takes off in less than two months. Apart from big names like Adnan Sami and Leslie Lewis who will be invited to sing on the show in each episode, the show will have audiences actively participating in singing along with Sonu and walking away with titles like Karaoke King and Karaoke Queen. This is expected to provide talented youngsters with the opportunity to meet with their favourite stars and exhibit their talent through the karaoke medium. The celebrities will compete in a ‘boys-versus-girls’ format by singing along to their favourite Hindi songs. Shooting is expected to begin by 26 January.
Sony had earlier tried a similar format, without the karaoke element, in Star Ya Kalakaar, which had veteran actor Farida Jalal in the host’s seat. Star’s Kya Masti Kya Dhoom, hosted by Sonali Bendre, has already climbed into INTAM’s top 10 most popular programmes across all channels, a fact that has probably inspired Star to launch another music based show. Nigam who had, in an earlier media interview, said that the best thing about Sa Re Ga Ma was the opportunity to meet the music maestros and living legends of India up close, will now get a second chance to do so.
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.
