News Broadcasting
Times Network in 100 countries now; launches two channels in Europe
CANNES: Times Network, a part of India’s largest media conglomerate, The Times Group, is set to launch two of its channels in Europe, marking its presence in over 100 countries.
The network will launch Times Now, India’s most popular English News Channel and Zoom — India’s No. 1 Bollywood channel, on the Bobbles Media GmbH DTH and OTT platforms in Europe. This will enable them to reach into territories like Europe including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Backed by Bennett, Coleman & Co, the Times Networks’s International Business recently received the ‘Porter Prize 2016’ for ‘Creating Distinctive Value’. It will be the fastest Indian TV network to cross the 100 country mark in under five years. Within under a year of its launch in the UK, where it reaches Engliand’s 1.4m Indians, the network is all geared up for further expansion in Europe.
Times Network head, international business, Naveen Chandra, said, “From Times Now’s commercial launch in Australia in early 2011 to its launch in Western Europe this month has been an incredible journey for the Network. We now reach over 10mn Indians globally. We are also all set to launch our first local content initiatives in Europe and look forward to growing aggressively in the region.”
Times Now commands 43% market share in the English News category, and 58% overall market share during prime time English News, according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India.
Zoom, a trendsetter in its genre, is available across five continents and 83 countries worldwide and also has a wide presence in the social media space.
Times Network houses upscale brands including; Times Now, ET Now, Magicbricks Now, Moview Now, MN+ – The Gold class of Hollywood; Romedy Now. The network delivers segmented and differentiated content under one umbrella. It informs, entertains and engages over 100 million urban affluent viewers in India and is available in over 82 countries across the globe.
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: 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.
