News Broadcasting
Zee Sports to air AFC Cup matches
MUMBAI: Zee Sports will air four matches of AFC Cup Club Championship from 2-16 May from Nehru Stadium Fatorda. The matches will feature Indian Clubs Mahindra United and Dempo Sports Club, Al Ahed of Libya, Al Nasr of Oman, Merv of Turkmenistan and Brother’s Union of Bangladesh.
In the first match on today 2 May 2006, ONGC Cup National Football League title contenders Mahindra United will clash with Al Ahed of Libya. Placed third in group ‘A’, Mahindra United would look to use the home advantage to snatch crucial three points against Al Ahed in the crucial AFC Cup tie.
For the uninitiated the AFC Cup is an annual competition open to clubs from the AFC’s countries as categorised in Vision Asia. The AFC Cup looks to fulfill the Vision Asia goal of a creating a top-class competition for well-managed clubs, played by professional players.
The first edition took place in 2004. The AFC Cup has resided in the West for two years now with Al Jaish of Syria winning the inaugural edition and Al Faisaly of Jordan lifting it last year.
Mahindra’s are placed third in group ”A” with three points from four matches, while Al Ahed of Lebanon are placed second with seven points from four games and also kept their hopes alive for the quarter final of the AFC Cup. In the last encounter between two teams, Al Ahed of Lebanon held Mahindra 2-2.Mahindra will clash with Brother’s Union Bangladesh in their second encounter on May 16.
Dempo Sports Club team will also play two home matches against Al Nasar (Oman) and 16 May against Merv (Turkministan). Both matches would be played at Nehru Stadium Faorda in Margao, Goa.
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.
