News Broadcasting
Zee-Turner switches off OCN Network in Mangalore
MUMBAI: Zee Turner Limited, the distribution arm of Zee Telefilms Ltd and Turner International (I) Pvt. Ltd, has finally switched off its bouquets of 26 channels on OCN Network in Mangalore due to non payment of its huge outstanding to Zee Turner and non signing of fresh agreement after expiry of earlier one.
Zee Turner has been in negotiations with OCN for past eight months to clear its outstanding and to sign a fresh subscription agreement declaring its accurate subscriber base as the old agreement. It was found that OCN had been serving many more subscribers and households as compared to the number of subscriber households declared to Zee Turner.
The decision to switch off the operator came in wake of fall out of negotiations and the operator’s constant abstinence from clearing its outstanding and signing the requisite agreement.
While rest of Mangalore on CCC and ICN’s network continues to enjoy the channels of Zee Turner, close to 50,000 subscribers of OCN Network are deprived of channels like CNN, Zee Cinema, Zee TV, HBO, Cartoon Network, Pogo due to default on OCN’s part.
Zee Turner Ltd. CEO Arun Poddar said, “We are concerned about our viewers and still trying to negotiate with OCN and have kept all our channels of communication open. We have shared an extremely healthy relationship with OCN in past and are positive of resolving the issue in an amicable manner.”
It is to be noted that as per the regulation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), if a cable operator drops a channel or bouquet of channels from his network, he is required to reduce the price of such channel/bouquet to be charged from his customers/households. The viewers are, therefore, entitled and may ask for reduction in price from their monthly cable bill if these channels are missing due to such switch off.
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.
