News Broadcasting
CNBC-TV18 emerges as india’s no. 1 english news channel
MUMBAI: This budget week, CNBC-TV18 demolished the competition and emerged as India’s no. 1 English news channel, ahead of the likes of Republic TV and Times Now (Source: BARC India | TG: NCCS AB Male 22yrs+ | Market: India | Period: Wk 5'19, Imp'000 & Market Share). In the English Business news genre, CNBC-TV18 led with a 58% market share, which was greater than the rest of the channels put together, cementing its reputation as India’s Budget Headquarters (Source: BARC India | TG: NCCS AB Male 22yrs+ | Market: India | Period: Wk 5'19, Imp'000 & Market Share).
For the past 19 years, CNBC-TV18 has been India’s premier business news destination. With its unwavering focus on quality content, the channel has always been the preferred choice on all business and economy-related news, dominating the English business news genre, with a 66% market share, on a week on week basis. (Source: BARC, TG: NCCS AB Male 22+, Market: All India (U+R), Period: Wk 45'18- 5'19),
Speaking on CNBC-TV18’s consistent superiority, Avinash Kaul, COO – Network 18 & Managing Director A+E Networks I TV18, said “Disseminating financial news that matters and impacts the people of this country is a task we take very seriously. For the past 19 years, CNBC-TV18 has retained its position as the undisputed leader and this Budget was no different. This exceptional performance is because of our quality content that is authentic and consumer friendly. Our audiences place immense trust in us and we intend on retaining it.”
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.
