News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 launches show with Vir Sanghvi titled ‘Virtuosity’
MUMBAI: In line with its commitment to bringing the story behind the news to the forefront, CNN-News18 launched a new show Virtuosity. Hosted by one of the country’s top journalists, Vir Sanghvi, the weekend show features a big news story and provides added context, insight and nuance that may not be immediately discernible. The show will have Vir, in his inimitable style, break down the story being featured and make it relevant and relatable for the viewers. He will present the facts, make use of history, use a lifetime of his personal experiences to break through the clutter and bring forth the key aspects of the story.
The show will air every Saturday at 9:30 pm with repeats on Sunday at 9 am and 10:30 am.
In the first episode of Virtuosity, sories from the news aired last weekend, Vir Sanghvi delved into the decline and fall of India’s most flamboyant tycoon, Vijay Mallya. As his friends called the events surrounding Mallya “a witchunt” and industry insiders believed that Mallya “will come back with full honours”, Vir unravelled the link between the corridors of power and the banks that “kept lending money to KFA which they did not do to other airlines”.
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.
