News Broadcasting
Vineeta Dwivedi is BBC World Service India business development manager
MUMBAI: BBC World Service has appointed Vineeta Dwivedi as the business development manager for India.
Based in Delhi, she will be in charge of the broadcaster’s multi-media distribution and business development activities in India. Vineeta will be responsible for developing the distribution of BBC World Service output in India across a range of platforms including FM, broadband, DTH channel distribution system, mobile phones, satellite radio and TV.
She will also manage FM partnerships following the recent BBC partnership with the Mid-Day Group and the Radio One network. Vineeta joined BBC World Service in 2001 and worked in a range of editorial and production roles before getting involved with the growing business development team in 2005.
Prior to joining the BBC, she worked for the Press Trust of India. BBC World Service head of business development for the Asia/Pacific Region Michel Lobelle said: “The BBC intends to be at the heart of the current radio renaissance in India. It’s a very exciting time indeed, and we aim to further expand our presence across key platforms in India. Vineeta will play a crucial role in this expansion.”
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.
