News Broadcasting
TV Today Q1 net shrinks to Rs 10 mn on radio losses
MUMBAI: TV Today Network has posted a weak fiscal first-quarter net profit as it had to absorb losses from its radio business while revenue fell from the year-ago period which had gained from political advertising due to general elections.
TV Today, which operates a clutch of news channels including Aaj Tak and Headlines Today, reported a net profit of Rs 10.08 million for the three months to 30 June compared to Rs 166.44 million a year ago.
TV Today clarified the Q1 results are not comparable to the year-ago period as it did not have the radio broadcasting business then.
TV Today’s total income from operations stood at Rs 650.08 million, down from Rs 710.41 million it reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Last year, income had jumped 10.76 per cent, as political parties had advertised majorly on the Hindi news channels.
The company’s expenses also surged to Rs 648.19, compared to Rs 561.32 million a year ago.
For the TV broadcasting segment, TV Today posted a revenue of Rs 641.39 million and an operating profit of Rs 49.05 million. However, its radio business, under the brand name of Meow FM, posted an operating loss of Rs 43.32 million over an income of Rs 8.69 million.
Shares of TV Today closed Friday at Rs 93.40 on the BSE, down 1.11 per cent from its previous close.
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.
