News Broadcasting
Mirror NOW celebrates the landmark judgement of abolishment of section 377
MUMBAI: Mirror NOW, the channel that fights for you and channelizes its focus on issues that impact people’s lives, has been actively supporting the cause of LGBTQ community rights and raising awareness through active and continuous discussions and impactful reportage on the channel.
As the country celebrates this landmark judgement, Mirror NOW supports and welcomes the verdict to acknowledge the fight put by the community. As a mark of solidarity, the channel celebrated the historic verdict by adding PRIDE NOW to its name for a day along with a specially curated programming line-up. ‘The Urban Debate’ anchored by Faye D’Souza featured parents of prominent personalities from the community. Sridhar Rangayan, Director & producer, Harish Iyer, LGBTQ Rights Activist, Onir, film maker, Sushant Divgikar and many more were part of the special programming line-up on the channel throughout the day.
Expressing her views on the verdict, Faye D’Souza, Executive Editor, Mirror NOW said, “I am thrilled with the Supreme Court’s verdict to scrap the controversial Section 377 of IPC. This is great news for LGBT brothers and sisters, who they have fought hard and long for this day and it has been an honour to stand along with them. It is a progressive move and I sincerely hope this verdict will shift people’s mindset towards the community.”
With the Supreme Court’s decision to finally abolish the British-era Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which criminalised same sex relationships, it’s a respite for the LGBTQ community that has been fighting long for right to live and right to acceptance.
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.
