News Broadcasting
Vishal Verma is American Desi network CEO
MUMBAI: American Desi, which claims to be the first and only 24-hour English language American television network for South Asians living in the US has announced the appointment of senior management, advisors and on-air talent.
Togther they have over 125 years of relevant experience at such media companies as ABC, NBC, ESPN, Fox PAX-TV.
Vimal Verma is the broadcaster’s chairman and CEO. He used to be with American Express; Rickey Gaffney ias its programming senior VP. He was previously with ABC and ESPN.
American Desi was officially was unveiled with EchoStar Communications Corporation’s Dish Network satellite TV service. It caters to the millions of American residents who hail from India, Pakistan and other culturally similar South Asian backgrounds — one of the fastest-growing and wealthiest population segment in the US.
American Desi also unveiled several featured on-air talent appointees. They include Divya Ohri who will serve as production VP. Ohri becomes American Desi’s senior VP and host of American Desi: Prime Time Live, the flagship show of the network. She will also host Bollywood Fix and co-host of Points of View.
Verma said, “We are extremely proud of the unprecedented and unparalleled team we have assembled both behind and in front of the camera. Never before has such a senior assemblage of Western and South Asian executives and on-air talent been assembled to launch a comprehensive media venture for the Desi community.”
American Desi is a New Jersey-based company. The network claims to be available to more than ten million households through an agreement with EchoStar’s Dish Network satellite television service.
The network’s programming slate includes morning and evening news, movies, sports, magazine shows, late night comedy blocks and issues-based, interactive audience participation programmes that make use of in-person, telephone and computer technologies.
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.
