News Broadcasting
Sumukhi Suresh and Girliyapa create their mark at News18.com’s ireel awards 2018
MUMBAI: Popular for writing and performing sketches and viral videos, stand-up comedienne Sumukhi Suresh bagged the Best Actress (Comedy) award at the New18.com iReel Awards 2018 for her role in Amazon’s ‘Pushpavalli.’ It was a double delight for Sumukhi, the creator of the show, as Pushpavilli also claimed the Best Comedy award later in the evening. Best Writing (Comedy), on the other hand, was bestowed upon the new-age platform Girliyapa for their renowned show ‘Mr and Mrs.’
As for Pushpavalli, the show was created by Sumukhi herself, who also played the titular role of a lady who is a stalker, in this dark comedy. In the series, Pushpavalli, moves from Bengaluru to Bhopal to chase Nikhil, a man she met at an event. Sumukhi steals the show with not only her performance but also her strong writing.
Accepting the award for Pushpavalli at the event, an elated Sumukhi said, “I’d like to thank News18 and iReel for this award. I’d like to make a small note here regarding the misconception that shows are going to be made by one person alone. It takes an entire team. I’d like to thank everyone involved with Pushpavalli, my writers and directors. I know it’s kind of a Public Service Announcement, but if you’re a woman and are looking to make a show, then just go ahead and make it. You’re going to make mistakes but it’s going to end up being an amazing experience.”
Coming to the popular series Mr. and Mrs., it features Nidhi Bisht as Madhu and Biswapati Sarkar as Sanjay, as a married couple. The show is filled with bags of wit and humour. The story comes out in full flow through some very good writing by Preksha Khanna and Pradyot Mokashi. This light-hearted show has earned a lot of fans and has built anticipation for another season, reflecting the demand for series that feature well-written content.
Present at the event, Preksha and Pradyot walked up the stage to claim the award. Commenting on the win, Pradyot said, “I’d like to give my heartfelt thanks to Biswapati Sarkar. Whatever writing I know is because of him. I’d also like to a give big thanks to TVF.”
Applauding the winners were esteemed attendees such as Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Nikhil Advani, Hansal Mehta, Harsh Chhaya, Surveen Chawla, Kubra Sait, Rajshree Deshpande, Ameesha Patel, Tanushree Dutta, Tisca Chopra, Rasika Duggal, Vikas Gupta, Karan Wahi and Ronit Roy, who graced the event with their presence.
iReel Awards 2018 is the 2nd edition of the content awards by News18.com that celebrates, honours and recognizes the brightest talent in the Indian web series space.
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.
