News Broadcasting
Times Global Broadcasting sets up distribution team
MUMBAI: With the launch date drawing nearer, Times Global Broadcasting Co Ltd, the joint venture news broadcasting company of The Times of India Group and Reuters, has inducted key executives to manage the distribution of its English news channel.
Times Global Broadcasting V-P and business head Partho Das Gupta confirmed the following appointments to indiantelevision.com:
Deepak Agarwal has joined Times Global Broadcasting as DGM affiliate network, west zone. He will be based in Mumbai. Agarwal had a long association with MTV Networks and Times of India Group. Agarwal was instrumental in launching channels such as religious channel Sanskar and the southern-music channel SS Music.
Managing the north and east is Tapas Roy who has joined as DGM affiliate network, North. Roy is an import from Sahara India Media & Entertainment’s (SIME). He was previously associated with SitiCable and has also had stints with BBC World and Star India.
Ramesh N, yet another distribution professional from MTV Networks, would be based out of Bangalore, to take charge of the distribution business of the south market as group manager affiliate network. Ramesh has worked with the Zee Turner Group and MEN-ESPN.
The company is likely to inducted few more in due course of time.
Earlier this quarter, Reuters acquired 26 per cent equity stake in The Times Global Broadcasting Co Ltd. The industry media observers signify that the promoters wish to have a global presence with the proposed news channel.
To begin with, industry sources indicated, the yet-to-be named news channel would first spread its wings to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries before embarking on further international expansion. Das Gupta would, however, offer no comment in this regard.
Meanwhile, in a bid to capitalize on the equity of the Times brand, one of the names being toyed with for the channel is Times Global, informed sources aver. According to sources, Times has received the green-signal for its uplinking licence and is eyeing a mid-September launch for the channel.
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.
