News Broadcasting
Times Group MD Vineet Jain is PTI chairman
MUMBAI: Times of India Group managing director Vineet Jain has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the Press Trust of India (PTI). Jain, who was earlier vice- chairman, replaced Punjabi Kesari Group editor Vijay Kumar.
The vice-chairman role went to Mathrubhumi Group chairman and managing director MP Veerendrakumar. The election was held following the 62nd annual general meeting of the PTI’s shareholders.
Jain, who has played a key role in expanding the Times of India and other publications of Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd, was PTI chairman in 2002-03. He has also led BCCL’s successful entry into online, radio and television services.
Veerendrakumar was formerly a Member of Parliament and Union Minister. A past President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), he is associated with media-related bodies in India and abroad.
The members of the PTI board also include Vijay Kumar Chopra (Hind Samachar), N. Ravi (The Hindu), R. Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar), Aveek Kumar Sarkar (Ananda Bazar Patrika), Shekhar Gupta (Indian Express), K.N. Shanth Kumar (Deccan Herald), Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Jagran Prakashan), Hormusji N. Cama (Bombay Samachar), Riyad Mathew (Malayala Manorama) and Sanjoy Narayan (Hindustan Times). The Directors from outside the newspaper industry are Professor EV Chitnis, Justice SP Bharucha and Fali S Nariman.
A leading news agency, PTI achieved its highest-ever revenue last financial year and is profitable.
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.
