News Broadcasting
TV Today rolls out special budget shows
NEW DELHI: It’s that time of the year when India’s finance minister would present budgetary proposals and the railway minister his rail budget, which will be preceded by the annual performance result of the country in the form of the Economic Survey.
TV Today Network has lined up a host of programmes relating to these happenings on its Hindi news channel, Aaj Tak, and its English sibling Headlines Today.
Budget related programming on Aaj Tak include shows like Suniye Vitt Mantri, airing from 21 February at 10.45 pm. This is a 10-minute segment which will carry on till 25 February and will concentrate on highlighting the expectations of the industry.The show will also comprise vox pops, displaying the reaction of the viewers on various issues.
In-depth analysis of the Railway Budget will air on 26 February. The show will examine the likely impact of the budgetray proposals on the general travellers, along with a cascading effect that a proposed freight hike might have on the prices of various commodities.
On 28 February, Aaj Tak will air finance minister P Chidambarams speech live, like many other news channels, from the Parliament. After the speech, analysis by special in-studio guests will follow that will look at the impacts of the the proposals on the economy and the common man.
The channel will also transmit post budget analysis from various live studios situated at apex chambers of commerce like Ficci and CII in Delhi and the Bombay Stock Exchange.
A panel discussion, featuring chief ministers of various states, look at the implications of the Union Budget in their respective states, too has been lined up. In the evening of 28 February,a highlight will be an interview with the finance minister.
Headlines Today will air the budget special under the master branding Great Expectations Budget 2005, which would include Budget specials at 8 pm daily till 1 March. Experts will include Confederation of Indian Industry’s economic advisor Omkar Goswami and economists like Bibek Debroy and Surjit Bhalla.
Detailed stories would be carried by the channel on the day of the Railway Budget, Economic Survey and the Union Budget, apart from airing live the FM’s speech.
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.
