News Broadcasting
Sun Direct launches freedom offer @1947
Chennai, 13th August, 2013: On the eve of the Independence Day (August 15th), Sun Direct announces a limited period special offer priced at Rs.1947 for the Cinema + Sports pack valid from 14th to 18th August 2013. This subscription comes with 2 months subscription free.
Cinema + sports pack comes at a great value of just Rs. 185 per month with 130+ channels and cheapest Cinema + sports offering among the DTH Players. This includes a range of sports and entertainment channels, with nonstop movies round the clock. The freedom offer delivers non-stop entertainment value at a very affordable price point. This new pack is sure to address the complete entertainment needs of the entire family with the addition of 4 new popular sports channels ESPN, Star Sports, Star Sports 2 and Star Cricket- at an amazing price point. Sun Direct has also added ESPN HD and Star Cricket HD as part of their HD offering. What's more, customers can now record their favorite serials and movies with Sun Direct offering video recording at no extra cost on all its SD + and HD + boxes. With introduction of this offer, Sun Direct wishes all its viewers a very happy Independence Day!
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:Â 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.
