News Broadcasting
India Today group to host 2nd edition of india today conclave south in hyderabad
MUMBAI: After the mega success of the first edition, the India Today Group will host the 2nd Edition of India Today Conclave South 2018 in Hyderabad, on 18th and 19th January. Chief Ministers, political leaders, movie stars, artists, business tycoons, thought leaders and news makers from the south will converge on India’s most respected conclave for the South to discuss, debate and decipher the roadmap of the six southern states.
The two days of the conclave will include insightful sessions, networking lunches and a gala dinner with politicians, business leaders, movie stars and some of south India’s finest minds. As a forum, it aspires to unite the common voice of these states, and push their causes to promote culture, politics, entertainment and investment growth, in line with the states’ and centre’s socio-economic development agendas.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have a combined GDP of over $400 billion and when put together, are among the top 30 economies of the world, contributing over 22 per cent of India’s GDP and 28 per cent of India’s employment. They account for 20 per cent of India’s population and contribute almost 30 per cent of India’s tax revenues. By 2020, it is projected that South India will become a $1,200 billion economy. With human development indices of the south growing higher than the rest of India, it is clear that the higher the south rises, the better India will do. Come to India Today Conclave South to see the southern sunrise.
The top speakers during the event, spread over 20 sessions, include the below. (* invited)
Chief Ministers
• K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Minister, Telengana
• N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh
• V. Narayanasamy, Chief Minister, Puducherry
• Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister, Karnataka*
Stars, Actors, Artists
• M Mohan Babu, Actor, producer
• Lakshmi Manchu, Actor
• Gauthami, Actor
• Khushbu Sundar, Actor
• Taapsee Pannu, Actor
• Yamini Reddy, Dancer
• Bhavana Reddy, Singer, Dancer
• Praveen Sparsh, Musician
• Prakash Raj, Actor
• S.K. Sasidharan, Film Director
• Vishal, Actor*
• Bina Paul, Film Editor
• Shruti Hariharan, Actor
• Pranitha Subhash, Actor
• Kajal Aggarwal, Actor
• Parvathy Nair, Actor
• Nayanthara, Actor*
• Sumukhi Suresh, Stand-Up Comedienne
• Nikhita Gandhi, Singer
• Shahshaa Tirupati, Singer
• Karthik, Singer
Business Tycoons, Industrialists
• G.V. Prasad, Co-Chairman and CEO, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories
• G.V. Krishna Reddy, Chairman, GVK Group
• George Alexander Muthoot, Managing Director, Muthoot Group*
• Sumithra Gomatam, President, Digital Operations, Cognizant
• A.S. Murthy, CTO, Tech Mahindra
• Smruti Parida, CTO, Nestaway Technologies
• Ananth Narayanan, CEO, Myntra–Jabong*
Political Leaders, Newsmakers, Activists, Thought Leaders, Change makers
• Divya Spandana, Former MP, Head of Congress Social Media Department
• A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO
• Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister, Human Resource Development*
• Dinesh Gundo Rao, Working President, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee
• Asaduddin Owaisi, President, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen
• B. Vinod Kumar, MP, Telangana Rashtra Samithi
• D. Raja, Rajya Sabha Member, CPI*
• Dr V. Maitreyan, MP, Rajya Sabha, AIADMK
• T.T.V. Dhinakaran, MLA, Tamil Nadu
• Jayanthi Natarajan, Former Union Minister*
• Palanivel Thiyagarajan, MLA and senior DMK Leader *
• Deepa Jayakumar, General Secretary, MGR Amma Deepa Peravai
• P.H. Pandian, Ex-Speaker, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and MLA, AIADMK*
• Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP, Rajya Sabha
• Ramesh Chennithala, Leader of the Opposition, Kerala Legislative Assembly
• J. Nandakumar, National Convenor of Prajna Pravah, All India Executive Committee Member, RSS
• Lavanya Nalli, Vice Chairman, Nalli Group
• Anavila Misra, Fashion Designer
• Gaurang Shah, Fashion Designer
• Shravan Kumar, Fashion Designer
• Daivajna K.N. Somayaji, Astrologer
• N.S. Madhavan, Writer
• Prakash Belawadi, Actor, Activist
• S. Thirunavukkarasar, President, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee
• MM Pallam Raju, Former Union Minister, Human Resource Development
• T.K. Vinod Kumar, ADGP (Intelligence), Kerala Police
• P K Hormis Tharakan , Former Director, R&AW, Former DGP, Kerala Police
• Bindu Sampath
• V.S. Sunil Kumar, Minister for Agriculture, Kerala
• P. Chengal Reddy, Chief Advisor, Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations
• Krishna Byre Gowda, Minister for Agriculture, Karnataka*
• P. Ayyakannu,President, Desiya Thennindia Nadigal Inaiappu Vivasayigal Sangam, Tiruchirapalli*
• Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Minister for Agriculture, Telangana*
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.
