News Broadcasting
Times Global Broadcasting plans to raise $50 mn via stake sale
MUMBAI: Times Global Broadcasting Corporation Ltd, which is readying to launch business news channel ET Now, is on the hunt for an investor to raise close to $50 million (Rs 2.5 billion).
The company is looking at a dilution of 25-26 per cent equity and has mandated UBS Securities India to help in this pursuit, sources say. When TGBCL launched the English general news channel, it had roped in Reuters as a strategic partner with a 26 per cent holding.
The valuation at around $200 million (Rs 10 billin) seems to be steep at a time when the market cap of media companies has contracted in the wake of a global financial turmoil.
When contacted, both Times Global Broadcasting CEO Chintamani Rao and UBS Securities declined to comment.
TGBCL has suffered a net loss of Rs 720 million on a revenue of Rs 643.2 million for FY’08, according to a presentation made to potential investors. The estimated loss for FY’09 is Rs 1.15 billion on a turnover of Rs 931.2 million.
The company recently signed an agreement with Reuters to source financial and business content for ET Now. Last year, Reuters divested its 26 per cent stake in Times Global Broadcasting.
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.
