News Broadcasting
Aquaguard & Network18 to honour ‘Water Heroes’ at ‘Jal Daan’ grand finale
MUMBAI: The first season of the ‘Jal Daan movement’, Network18 & Aquaguard’s social campaign around creating awareness and generating solutions to the drinking water crises in India is reaching its culmination with a gala ceremony on 24th March 2017 at Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai. The event will celebrate and salute the endeavors of ‘Water Heroes’ – individuals & organizations who have been working relentlessly around the issue of safe drinking water.
The Grand finale will also serve as a platform for stakeholders to come together and discuss, deliberate and exchange ideas to build a sustainable potable water ecosystem in India. The evening will be graced by the presence of Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra as the Chief Guest of the event who will felicitate the ‘Jal Daan Water Heroes’. Noted actor & Unicef Goodwill Ambassador Madhuri Dixit, acclaimed lyricist, Prasoon Joshi, and social reformer Bindeshwar Pathak, would be the Guest of Honor.
To discuss India’s drinking water problems and accessibility for all, a special panel discussion will take place with eminent personalities including Priya Naik, Founder & CEO, Samhita, Anuj Sharma, CEO, Piramal Sarajal, Dr. Shriram Nene (Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeon), Bishwadeep Ghosh, Director, Arghyam, Dr. Thuppil Venkatesh (Professor Emeritus, St. John’s Medical College) and A.V Suresh, Eureka Forbes, President- International Operations & CEO Forbes Professional at Eureka Forbes.
With amplification across the Network 18 bouquet of channels and digital assets, the ‘Jal Daan’ campaign has gathered great momentum and successfully mobilized people to take note of India’s drinking water woes, encouraged them to do their bit by taking a pledge to donate 5 litres of healthy & safe drinking water every day to those who don’t have access to it. Over the last six months, the campaign has garnered more than 3 million pledges from citizens from all walks of life – a testimony to its efficacy.
The initiative has emerged as a significant crusade in galvanizing popular sentiment towards an extremely important cause and creating a better future for our generations to come.
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: 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.
