News Broadcasting
Zee set to make southern debut with 12 September launch of Alpha Telugu
MUMBAI: Zee Network is all set to unveil its Telugu channel Alpha Telugu. The 24-hour channel will start beaming from 12 September.
The launch of Alpha Telugu will finally see the Zee Network making its entry into southern television airspace. With the launch, Zee will become the second mainstream network having a presence in the South after Star, which has its Tamil channel Star Vijay.
Timed with the launch, Alpha Telugu has lined up a series of campaigns, which will start rolling from the 12th. According to Alpha Telugu business head Sreenivaas Bhatt, print, outdoor and cable will be used to promote Alpha Telugu, apart from cross promotions through the network.
Speaking exclusively to indiantelevision.com, Bhatt says the channel will telecast 17 hours of original programming daily from Day 1 of launch. According to Bhatt, a programming bank of two months’ duration is ready.
Alpha Telugu will telecast five daily news bulletins of 30 minutes duration. A total of 12 serials, eight soaps for the prime time slot and four for the afternoon band are also being lined up.
“Alpha Telugu will be stressing on reality-based shows. So, apart from news and soaps, the channel will telecast chat shows, interviews, live shows and documentaries portraying the common man’s life in Andhra,” offers Bhatt.
Bhatt however, refused to divulge financial details of the channel’s programming and marketing saying more data was awaited.
“Reality dramatised” – that’s the tagline for Alpha Telugu. With Zee Network finally realising its long-in-the-offing Telugu entry, it could well be put as “drama realised”.
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.
