News Broadcasting
Network18 announces Media Institute Initiative (MII)
MUMBAI: News channels CNN-IBN and IBN7 have planned to launch a Media Institute Initiative (MII) that will engage media schools in the country and abroad through a structured and collaborative approach aimed at unleashing the potential of the youth. Initiative aims to deepen the industry – academia engagement in the media space through seminars, internships, guest lectures and other interventions for sectoral capability enhancement.
Speaking on the MII, Network18 president news Umesh Upadhyay said, “We are really happy to launch the Media Institute Initiative that will engage the industry, the youth and the sharpest academic minds on an on-going basis. The cross-pollination of ideas and talent will create unparalleled opportunities and ideas that will have the potential to define the media landscape of the future.”
Under this initiative, the first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is being signed with the Kushabhau Thakre Patrakarita Avam Jansanchar Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur in the presence of Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh. The MOU will be signed between Network18 president news Umesh Upadhyay, and Kushabhau Thakre Patrakarita Avam Jansanchar Vishwavidyalaya vice chancellor Sachchidanand Joshi on 30 January 2015 in Raipur. IBN7 deputy managing editor Sumit Awasthi will address the aspiring media professionals in the city.
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.
