News Broadcasting
Three senior Aaj Tak staffers quit; two to join DD
NEW DELHI: At a time when India’s No. 1 news channel, Aaj Tak, has breached the 40 per cent-mark channel share amongst news channels at prime time on weekends, it has once again become a victim of poaching.
This time the organisation on the prowl is India’s pubcaster Doordarshan.
Two of the three senior Aaj Tak staffers, who have quit, will be joining forces at DD with former colleague Deepak Chaurasia, who is the consulting editor at DD News.
The people who have left Aaj Tak for DD News are senior producer Sanjiv Paliwal and assignment in-charge Rajnish Ahuja. Sources in both Aaj Tak and Doordarshan confirmed the development.
The third person, Ajit Anjum, would be joining BAG Films, promoted by Anurradha Prasad and her Member of Parliament husband, Rajiv Shukla.
“We have also settled the accounts of the three and wish them luck in their new endeavour,” a senior executive of Aaj Tak told indiantelevision.com today.
Paliwal and Ahuja are slated to formally join DD News by the end of this month. While the former would join India’s pubcaster as output editor-cum-anchor, the latter would be the assignment editor.
This is not the first time that poachers have stalked Aaj Tak. Early this year, when NDTV’s content contract for Star News came to an end and Prannoy Roy decided to start his own channels in Hindi and English, he had lured away some big names from Aaj Tak like Dibang, Naghma, Sipta Deb and Poonya Prasoon Bajpai.
Meanwhile, TAM data for the week ended 1 November shows that Aaj Tak, which had shed some percentage of channel share, is regaining lost ground.
According to the data, the channel share at prime time (6-11 pm) for Aaj Tak on weekends is 43 per cent, while on weekdays, it is 38 per cent. If the overall weekend day is taken, then also Aaj Tak is leading with 39 per cent channel share (up from 36 per cent), followed by Star News (20 per cent), NDTV India (17 per cent) and Zee News (15 per cent).
The TAM data also shows that all days channel share of Aaj Tak is 37 per cent and is followed by Star News (21 per cent), Zee News (18 per cent) and NDTV India (17 per cent).
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.
