News Broadcasting
Tamil channels snap up big ticket film rights
MUMBAI: The Tamil channels are really quick on the uptake. Within a few days of release, some of the big ticket Tamil New Year movies have been snapped up by them.
So if Sun TV bagged the satellite rights of Rajanikant’s Chandramukhi, rival channel Jaya TV has whipped up the rights of the other two releases – Kamal Hassan’s Mumbai Express and Vijay’s Sachien.
Confirming the developments, Sun TV vice president, programming, Hansraj W Saxena told Indiantelevision.com that the channel went for Chandramukhi as it was doing well in the box office.
“The movie is the top perfomer among the New Year releases. Also, Rajanikant is the biggest crowdpuller of Tamil cinema. So we went for it,” he says.
Jaya TV’s acquisition of Mumbai Xpress and Sachien reveals the channel’s aggressive plans to strengthen its movie library. “Yes, this is part of our plans to beef up film content,” agrees Jaya TV VP programmes and operation Murali Raman.
The release of Chandramukhi and Mumbai Xpress saw Rajnikant and Kamal Hassan back on the silver screen after a long gap. According to the weekly box office report, Chandramukhi has collected distributors share of Rs 320 million during the Tamil New Year weekend from eight Chennai screens. Sachien and Mumbai Xpress, which have also managed to get an impressive opening, are now trailing as per reports.
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.
