News Broadcasting
US networks go overboard to ‘cover’ for Jackson repeat
MUMBAI: One fallout of all the jumping around that has been going on following pop princess Janet Jackson’s half time flash at last Sunday’s Super Bowl is the way the US broadcast networks are falling over themselves to prevent any repeat.
The first of course is CBS which took the most heat for Jackson’s breast bare. Sunday’s (Monday morning in India) upcoming telecast of the Grammy Awards will be delayed live to allow censors to suitable edit both audio and video images.
It doesn’t stop there though. ABC’s live telecast of the Oscars on 29 February will for the first time see the network implementing a delayed airing. One wonders if this has anything to do with the Super bowl show-all or provides ABC a convenient escape route to edit out any unwanted anti-establishment tirades similar to what Michael Moore delivered last year. Moore, while picking up the award for best documentary for his anti-gun film Bowling for Columbine had trashed President George Bush as well as the US-led invasion of Iraq. To quote Moore from his speech: “We live in a time with fictitious election results that elect fictitious presidents. We live in a time when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons.”
It needs noting here that ABC’s decision to use a delay on the Oscars was made over the objections of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The “cover-up” wave extends to beyond just live events. NBC network edited Thursday’s episode of ERto remove a brief shot of an elderly patient’s breast.
Defending its action, the network said it had “unfortunately concluded that the atmosphere created by this week’s events has made it too difficult for many of our affiliates to air” what producer John Wells called “the incidental exposure of an elderly woman’s breast in the context of a medical trauma.” And Wells was pointed in his criticism of the ERediting, issuing a statement that it could have a “chilling effect” on writers.
One only hopes that the network “crackdown” is just a passing phase and will will be given a quiet burial once the dust has settled on the Jackson affair.
Speaking of Jackson, a Fox News report says that some deal is being worked out wherein both Jackson and the man who actually did the “rip-off” pop toy boy Justin Timberlake will be part of the Grammy telecast on CBS.
Till now the news had been that only Timberlake would definitely be performing (being nominated for five Grammies, including Album of the Year is a great incentive to be forgiven any transgression).
According to Fox, the proviso for getting re-entry is that each of them must issue a one-sentence apology on screen about their actions at the Super Bowl.
Could the reported softening have anything to do with Jackson’s boyfriend, producer Jermaine Dupri, protest resignation from the Atlanta chapter of NARAS? Maybe, maybe not.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
