News Broadcasting
Ten Sports gets its press drive going on Indo-Pak series, uncertainty notwithstanding
MUMBAI: It is shaping up to be the cricket series of the year and could be even bigger than last year’s World Cup. The schedule of India’s face off with Pakistan on the cricket grounds in March may not have been finalised, but Ten Sports has initiated the publicity campaign around the event.
On Sunday it released it put ads in major publications. The ad highlights the fact that the broadcaster has live and exclusive coverage of the event. The distribution contact details have been given.
There have been concerns expressed some of which are justified. The players are keen on the tour to be delayed by a week. That is because they will suffer fatigue after a gruelling tour of Australia. While that is fine the personal security concerns raised by some senior players in some media pub lications, none of which has been attributed directly to any player, has raised some questions as to the motives behind the “whisper campaign”.
Meanwhile, a report in Pakistan’s The Daily Times stated that in order to put fears to rest the Indian cricket board would send a team of security experts to Pakistan next month to review arrangements. The Pakistan Cricket Board has already guaranteed tight security for Indias tour in light of last week’s bomb blast near an Anglican cathedral in Karachi. If the Indian board is satisfied then the tour should proceed as scheduled.
A possible change in the itinerary could be that the the tour will start from Lahore. India will play three Tests and five one-day internationals between early March and mid-April. The last time we visited our neighbours was way back in 1989-1990. The Bukhatir broadcaster is firming up marketing and promotional plans.
Another report in Sify has stated that India, Pakistan and world champions Australia are expected to play a triangular series in Holland in August. This will act as a prelude to the Champions Trophy in England in September. Max will have live coverage of the Champions Trophy. If the Holland event proceeds as scheduled expect a round of fierce bidding from rival broadcasters.
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.
