News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 #HelpAshmita Campaign
MUMBAI: In the aftermath of India’s performance at the Rio Olympics, the discussion across the country turned to what needs to be done in order to improve the country’s ranking at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Against this backdrop, CNN-News18 took the lead not only in terms of coming up with a unique charter for improving our performance at the next Olympics but even took up the cause of a young talented gymnast Ashmita Pal who dreams of representing and winning laurels for the country.
On the first day of the campaign itself, the channel has raised over Rs. 3 lakhs and the contributions are still pouring in. Responding to the initiative, a leading Public Sector company announced an immediate grant of Rs. 2 lakhs and a monthly scholarship of Rs. 20,000 per month for the next two years for the athlete. Shahid Chowdhury, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Tripura also backed the CNN-News18 campaign.
The channel, in partnership with Bitgiving, is aiming to raise Rs. 10 lakhs in order to get proper facilities for gymnastics training for Ashmita through their campaign #HelpAshmita who hopes to win an Olympics Gold.
Earlier this month, young Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar scripted history as she entered the final of the Vault event at the Rio Olympics. Her feat will not only serve as an inspiration for upcoming sportspersons like 15-year-old Ashmita Pal but has also given them the courage to chase their dreams.
Endorsed by Dipa Karmakar, Ashmita has represented India at the World School Gymnastics in Turkey this July. Hailing from Agartala, her father is a daily wage earner and her mother is a domestic help. For her, meeting basic nutrition needs is a struggle, let alone the diet required by an athlete. But defying all odds, Ashmita fought her way into the national team. She is now training under Soma Nandy, wife of Dipa Karmakar’s coach.
For the CNN-News18 team, this campaign is a manifestation of the channel’s commitment and thought leadership in picking up issues that the country feels strongly about and making a difference on the ground.
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.
