News Broadcasting
Temptation Island hits Indian shores tonight
Star made it happen in the west with the Temptation Island and is now all set to hit Indian screens at 10:00 pm on Star World tonight.
Eight episodes of Temptation Island the original series that drew high ratings will be telecast in India to test whether India can have its own version of the series.
The channel is leaving no stone unturned to publicise the show. It already has attention catching advertisements in leading daily newspapers. The ad goes: 'Lust. Sex. Betrayal. Temptation Island, the reality show that shocked America. Should India have its own version?'
According to the channel, this will be a telecast to get a feedback from the viewers whether they would like to watch an Indianised version of the series on Star Plus. The reality series is about four steady couples at the crossroads of their relationship. Every member is made to stay separate from the other and stay on an island for two weeks with 26 single persons – with no restriction, no boundaries. The couples are not supposed to communicate though out the two week. Meanwhile, footage is shot of how each partner's relationship is developing and progressing with other singles.
When launched in America in January 2001, Temptation Island got high ratings amidst shocking reviews and strong criticism. Aired on Fox channel, the series had the highest ratings in more than six years among adults in the 18-34 demographic.
Meanwhile a team from the I & B ministry will be scrutinizing the show waiting to put a noose over the show if given a chance. How will Star dodge this? That's tempting. Very tempting. Maybe the channel will get exactly what it is looking for from the media and ministry and yet high ratings for the series.
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.
