News Broadcasting
Details of MRPs of pay channels declared by broadcasters
NEW DELHI: Details of Maximum Retail Prices of the pay channels declared by the Broadcasters for CAS notified areas in terms of clause 7 (ii) of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s Tariff Order dated 31.08.2006.
| Name of the Broadcaster Authorized Distributor |
Details of Information on Prices Received. (Rs per subscriber per month) | Remarks given by the Broadcasters while declaring the prices |
| Star India Pvt Ltd | i) Star Plus 5/-, ii) Star Movies 5/-,iii) Star World 5/-, iv) Star Gold 5/-, v) National Geographic Channel 5/-, vi) Vijay 5/-*, vii) Channel(V) 5/-, ix) History Channel 5/-, x) STAR one 5/-, xi) Toon Disney 5/-, x) The Disney Channel 5/-, xii) Hungama 5/-, xiii) NEO Sports 5/-, NEO Sports Plus 5/-. | The prices are being filed under protest and without prejudice to Star India Private Limited’s rights and contention raised in petitions filed by Star India Private Limited and / or any other parties on the issues. The channel Vijay, Toon Disney (Tamil) & The Disney channel (English) will however, be Free to Air in Chennai CAS areas. |
| Set Discovery Private Ltd | i)Animal Planet 5/-, ii)Animax 5/-, iii)AXN 5/-, iv)Discovery 5/-, v) Discovery Travel & Living 5/-,vi) MTV 5/-, vii)NDTV Profit 5/- viii)NDTV 24/7 -5/-,ix) Nick 5/-, x) SAB 5/-,xi) SET 5/-, xii) SET MAX 5/-,xiii) SET PIX 5/-,xiv) Ten Sports 5/- | The MRP shall be effective from 31.12.2006 and is subject to (i) implementation of CAS in the notified areas pursuant to MoI&B’s notification dated 31.07.2006. (ii) Orders that may b e made by the TDSAT in Appear No 10© of 2006 or in any proceedings pending or freshly initiated by the Broadcaster before any forum including the Delhi High Court interalia in relation to TRAI’s Interconnection Regulation dated 24.08.2006 & TRAI’s order dated 31.08.2006 and Cable Television Networks (Second Amendment ) Rules 2006 dated 31.07.2006. 2. Rates as indicated are applicable in all CAS notified areas including Chennai area where CAS is already in force except for NDTV 24X7 and NDTV profit which are FTA in the CAS notified areas of Chennai. |
| ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd | i) ESPN 5/-, ii)Star Sports 5 /-, | The prices are applicable only for the CAS environment and are subject to modification in accordance with applicable law, court order and/ or practice |
| Raj Television Network Ltd. |
i) RAJTV 5/-ii) RAJ DIGITAL PLUS 5/-,iii)VISSA TV 5/- Bouquet price for all the above three channels Rs.9/- | The channels will however be free to air in Chennai CAS area |
| B4U Television Network (India) Pvt. Ltd. |
B4U Movies Rs 5/per subscriber per month. |
——————– |
| SUN TV Limited | i)KTV 5/-, ii) Sun Music 5/-, iii)Sun News 5/-, iv)Adithya 5/-,v) Teja News 5/-, vi)Ushe TV 5/-, vii)Udaya News 5/-, viii) M/s Sun TV 5/- | The channels will however be free to air in Chennai CAS area |
| Udaya TV | i) Udaya TV 5/-, ii) M/s Udaya Movies 5/-,iii) M/s Udaya Varthegalu 5/-. | The channels will however be free to air in Chennai CAS area |
| Gemini TV Private Ltd., | i) Gemini TV 5/-, ii)Teja TV 5/- , iii) Gemini Music 5/-, iv) Gemini News 5/-, v) Gemini Cable Vision 5/- | The channels will however be free to air in Chennai CAS area |
| Ushodaya Enterprises Limited |
i) ETV 5/-, ii)ETV2 5/-, iii)ETV – Bangla 5/-, iv)ETV – Gujrati 5/-, v) ETV – Urdu 5/-, vi) ETV – Marathi 5/-, vii) ETV – Kannada 5/-, viii) ETV – Uttar Pradesh 5/-, ix) ETV – Madhya Pradesh 5/-, x) ETV – Rajasthan 5/-, xi) ETV – Bihar 5/-, ETV Oriya – 5/- | ETV Marathi will be Free to Air in Mumbai notified CAS Areas and ETV Bangla will be Free to Air in Kolkata notified CAS areas. |
| M/s BBC World | i) BBC world 5/- | M/s BBC reserve their rights under law on prices and also the right to change the price should the ceiling change. Will be only Free to Air channel in |
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.
