News Broadcasting
News18 India presents ‘Sabka Budget’ – Special programming on Union Budget 2019
MUMBAI: After winning the fiercely contested Lok Sabha elections, the newly formed NDA Government is set to deliver its maiden budget on July 5, 2019. As the nation awaits the Union Budget 2019, News18 India will bring an all-encompassing reportage with ‘Sabka Budget’.
Under the umbrella programming ‘Sabka Budget’, News18 India has put together an extensive line-up of shows to cover all aspects and issues pertaining to the upcoming Budget. With a special focus on expectations of the common man, the channel will showcase special episodes of its most popular programmes such as Bhaiyaji Kahin and Lapete Mein Netaji. While the former will bring forth hopes of the aam janta, the latter, based on a ‘hasya kavi sammelan’ format, will feature top politicians and poets on one platform to bring humour and sarcasm to the serious discourse around the budget. Bringing the viewers, eminent economists and the political leaders together on a common floor, the channel will also telecast a special audience-based show offering a unique opportunity to the participants to voice their opinions. Apart from this, there will be a special show with TV stars on their expectations from the upcoming budget.
This special reportage on News18 India will be led by channel’s team of ace journalists – Kishore Ajwani, Amish Devgan, Neha Pant and Prateek Trivedi. The editorial team will be joined by renowned political and economic experts such as Ram Kripal Singh and Shesh Narain Singh amongst others.
The programming on the Budget Day will commence at 8 AM comprising pre-budget discussions and live coverage of the FM speech. The budget speech will be followed by a series of debates and in-depth discussions analysing the impact and implications of the announcements on every sphere of life including economy, industries and individuals.
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.
