News Broadcasting
#JusticeForNirbhaya – A ZEE News Initiative
MUMBAI: Do you remember Nirbhaya? Or, like every other person, you too have forgotten the monstrous scar on the face of India? On 16th December 2012, when the heinous crime came into light, people came out on roads with candles in their hands protesting. Now, after more than 7 years, when most of us have forgotten, ZEE News did not. The channel never deviated from its stand. ZEE News was the first channel to interview the victim’s friend in 2012 and still stands by the side of Nirbhaya’s family in the quest of Justice.
So far, the world has seen the address of the Biggest Political leaders and celebrities. On 19th February 2020, for the first time, a mother addressed the nation. For the first time, any news channel gave a voice to the grief and despair of Nirbhaya’s mother. The mother came up on the channel with an appeal to the whole nation, asking people’s support and questioning the Judicial incompetence and the loop-holes. ZEE News never perceived the Nirbhaya Case as any other news story, but as a movement to give back the Indian women fearless liberty to live as they want.
ZEE News started an initiative that turned into the biggest socio-legal revolution of 2020, within a few hours. The channel asked the viewers to give a missed call to express their support towards rapid punishment for the rape case convicts and justice for Nirbhaya. The channel claims to receive more than 1 Lac missed calls every hour. And not just television, on 19th February, ZEE News was trending no.1 on Twitter with #MaaKaSandesh.
When on one side, the chaos created on Shaheen Bagh attracted more eyeballs; ZEE News, on the other side, has started a movement, for the truth that has remained unheard and unacted upon. A movement that once again brought the people of India together against a social ill and created a moral pressure on the Indian Judiciary system. The channel commits to continue the movement till the justice does not prevail.
Let us seek justice for Nirbhaya. Just give a missed call on 7834998998. You can also tweet your views and opinions with #JusticeForNirbhaya. Here’s the link to the appeal of Nirbhaya’s mother and the detailed coverage of ZEE News on the case:
https://zeenews.india.com/india/heres-what-nirbhayas-mother-asha-devi-said-during-maakasandesh-to-the-nation-on-dna-2265035.html
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.
