News Broadcasting
Times Now launches automobile show ‘Times Drive’
MUMBAI: English news channel Times Now has launched a weekend automobile show, Times Drive, to cater to the needs of the Indian auto consumer. The show will telecast every Saturday at 11.30 am and 7.30 pm; on Sundays, it will air at 1.30 pm and 6.30 pm.
The show will reflect the widespread momentum in the Indian automobile landscape and will center themes on relevant user reviews, the experiences of driving, travel and lifestyle associated with car ownership.
Times Now SVP (marketing and sales) Sandeep Sharma said, “This new show is all set to change the way people look at auto programs. With a focus on the quality of the show, we have included variants which will give our viewers that much needed dose on automobile information.”
Times Drive will profile individuals whose passion and zeal for cars surpass mechanical and technical knowledge. These individuals will include car lovers including celebrities, sports people, racers and auto-enthusiasts.
“The new platform claims to be a 360 degree auto show where they will showcase different segments which include geek review, city drives, best of the web, pop cars and celebrity interview,” the channel said in a release.
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.
