News Broadcasting
Vh1 set to debut six new musical series next year
MUMBAI: Viacom-owned US channel Vh1 is set to launch
six series in the first quarter of 2007. The new line-up includes, Irv Gotti Project, Man Band, ego trip’s White Rapper Show, Whitestarr Project, Rags To Riches, Bridging The Gap.
The above six series is part of the music-branded block VH1’s Wild Life.
“The breadth of this slate of music-based series illustrates, once again, that VH1 is the only place for adults to go to see the kinds of music and storytelling that speaks only to them,” said MTV Networks music group president entertainment Brian Graden. “This slate features all kinds of characters — Irv Gotti, Cisco Adler, Jeff Timmons, Queen Latifah — we love that they all have a place at Vh1.”
“Just as we gave Hulk and his family a home with Celebreality, we wanted to create a new branded block for all the crazy rockers and rappers that we love so well,” added MTV Networks music group executive vice president and general manager Tom Calderone.
Irv Gotti Project is a show based on Irv Gotti. After being investigated for three years by the federal government on charges of money laundering and acquitted, Gotti is now attempting a comeback with his label The Inc while also juggling his responsibilities as a husband and father.
Man Band is a reality based show where five boy band legends including Bryan Abrams (Color Me Badd), Rich Cronin (LFO), Chris Kirkpatrick (‘N Sync) and Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees) will come together to create new music and perform as a new pop group.
Ego trip’s White Rapper Show is a search for the next great white rapper. Whitestarr Project showcases the hourney of the rocker Cisco Adler and his band Whitestarr, while, Rags to Riches provides aspects of a musician or actor through their childhood and the various challenges of growing up, and Bridging the Gap documents two established artists to record a track together. Eve and Queen Latifah are featured in the first episode of the series.
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.
