News Broadcasting
Chunav Manch: Rajat Sharma grills leaders in novel formats
MUMBAI: The huge anticipation and the promise came true when India TV’s Flagship Election Mega-Conclave Chunav Manch in its Gujarat edition came out notches above of its contemporaries. The channel attracted unprecedented applause from both the participants and the delegates for the scale of implementation and the level of participation.
Super-charged participation from across the spectrum, along with India TV Anchors led by Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma himself and quite literally grilling the topmost political leaders in various novel formats was almost like a feast for the avid political watchers and the India TV viewers alike. Interrogating overtones from equally capable audience during interactive segments acted as a multiplier adding numerous layers of exhilaration.
None but all, starting from The Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani to Deputy CM Nitin Patel to BJP Chief Amit Shah opened up on issues related to Gujarat Elections & beyond. Other heavyweights include Ex-CM Shankar Sinh Vaghela, Congress Leader Arjun Modhwadia, Senior NCP Leader Prafful Patel and Senior Congress Leader Randeep Surjewala.
While the political feast for the viewers continued, Young Political Activists Jignesh Mevani, Alpesh Thakor and Hardik Patel, BJP Leader Jai Narayan Vyas, Congress Leader Shakti Singh Gohil, Gujarat Ministers Ganpatsinh Vasava & Shankar Chaudhary, State BJP Leaders Pradipsinh Jadeja and Jitu Vaghani, State Congress President Bharatsinh Solanki and Businessman Zafar Sareshwala spiced up their respective sessions with heated debates.
Expressing satisfaction, India TV MD Ritu Dhawan observed, “We were always sure of the top notch execution, however, while we landed at Ahmedabad we were a bit thoughtful on the participation front. This was because we noticed quite a few empty seats during a similar effort, by our immediate competition a day ago. Thankfully, our effort turned out to be a House full success with enviable participation & a Full-House.”
“Being able to keep our audience happy with quality content, however is our biggest success.” she added.
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.
