News Broadcasting
Star’s second bouquet channels off Indian Cable Net
MUMBAI: Star India’s second bouquet of channels will not be visible on Indian Cable Net, Kolkata’s largest multi system operator, which was bought out by Siticable earlier this year.
The second Star bouquet includes Star One, Hungama TV and the two Walt Disney channels — Disney Channel and Toon Disney.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, a Star India spokesperson confirmed that the second bouquet of channels would not be available on Indian Cable Net.
When contacted,a senior executive of Siticable stated that the boxes were distributed by Star for promotional activity between the period September to November 2005. This was mainly undertaken to give the feel of the second bouquet of channels.
Pointing out that Siticable later realised that Star was billing them from September onwards only, the Siticable senior executive said over phone from Delhi, “We realised this (billing) was a breach of an understanding reached between MSO and the broadcaster. Since we could not could not pay the subscription money from our own pockets, we decided to return the decoder boxes.”
The executive further pointed out that the Kolkata market was “not ready” for a paid second bouquet of channels. Indian Cable Net has a subscriber base of approximately 300,000 cable homes.
Star’s first bouquet of channels, including Star Plus, however, is available on Indian Cable Net.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
