News Broadcasting
Trai issues additional QoS instructions
NEW DELHI: Indian broadcast regulator today came out with more details on quality of service (QoS) to be observed by MSOs and local cable operators in CAS-notified areas.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has said the reporting (in the prescribed format) of QoS by approved MSOs and local cable ops shall be done on or before the expiry of 15 days from the end of the quarters and shall pertain to the quarters ending with 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December of each calendar year.
Further, in the case of Chennai, the first reporting shall be for the quarter ending December 2006 and in case of notified areas of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, it shall be for the quarter ending 31 March, 2007.
Trai had issued Regulation specifying standards of Quality of Service to be observed by the MSOs and cable operators in CAS notified areas of Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata on 23 August 2006.
This regulation provided that Trai, for the purpose of monitoring, can prescribe formats and demand reports from service providers on observance of QoS standards.
Further, in MSOs who are permitted to provide cable service in CAS notified areas under the Cable Amendment Rules of 2006 would be obliged to maintain quality of standards as may be determined by the regulator.
A full text of the general directive is available on the regulator’s website.
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.
