News Broadcasting
Teejay Sidhu to Host Firstpost’s 9 Months Season 3 – A GroundbreAzim Lalani,
MUMBAI: Firstpost’s 9 Months, a successful web-series and India’s one-of-its-kind comprehensive show on parenting and childcare promises to be bigger, better and more engaging in its third season. This time around, viewers will be welcomed by renowned actor, RJ, film producer and mother – Teejay Sidhu, who is the host on the show. The audience will witness riveting conversations between the host and celebrity parents as well as accredited experts. The discussions revolve around interesting topics such as toddler health, family and financial planning, child schooling and education, in keeping with the platform’s core ethos of delivering more value to the audience, with each season.
Commenting on the upcoming series Azim Lalani, Business Head – English General News Cluster, Network18 Digital said, “9 Months along with Firstpost’s other digital shows has cemented our success in the original web-series segment. The third season of 9 Months has seen more partner brands, highly influential celebrities and experts renowned in their respective fields, being associated with the offering. What makes it even more exciting is having Teejay Sidhu, a mother of twin daughters, onboard. Teejay’s strong digital presence and her communication as an active parent influencer perfectly aligns with the show’s core concept. With the novel and innovative developments in the upcoming season, we intend to reach a wider reach, achieve higher engagement and deliver more sharable content. The invaluable associations on the show stand testament to Firstpost’s immense credibility as one the leading digital platforms in the country.”
Garnering a whooping 11.8 million views and a reach of 20 million across platforms, the previous season left the audience captivated and wanting for more. In addition to a new host, the upcoming season welcomes influential celebrities like Karanvir Bohra; Barkha & Indraneil Sengupta, Manmeet Anjjan (of Meet Bros fame) and Karishma Modi; Rajneesh and Pallavi Duggal; Jai Bhanushali and Mahi Vij; Danish Aslam and Shruti Seth. They will be seen sharing their personal experiences on parent health, relationships, tackling setbacks around nutrition and achieving new milestones.
To provide an expert view on these conversations, they have been accompanied by eminent experts like Dr. Nitin Shah, Pediatrician, Dr. Samir Dalwai – Developmental Pediatrician, Founder of New Horizon Child Development Center, Arundhati Swamy, Head – Parent Engagement Programmes, ParentCircle; Avnita Bir, Director Principal, R N Podar School; Naiyya Saggi, CEO & Founder, Baby Chakra, Dr. Sanjoy Mukherjee, Psychologist; Mansi Zaveri, Founder, Kidsstoppress.com; Ruchita Dar Shah, Founder of First Moms Club among other distinguished personalities.
Speaking about 9 Months Season 3, Priyanka Sehgal, VP Content & Strategy, Netwrok18 said, “The fact that 9 Months has reached its third season stands testimony to consumption of this kind of content. 9 Months was meant to be every parent’s go-to guide and I think we have achieved that. We have attempted to include parents with varied parenting styles and their experiences. There are research based opinions and tips which will be beneficial to our audiences. On a lighter note, viewers will also see Teejay and her husband Karanvir Bohra in a candid chat about how they manage their busy schedules and twin daughters.”
The show is presented by Baby Dove and co-presented by Nestle Ceregrowand Asian Paints. Other partners include Sanofi Pasteur as the Health Journey Partner, Godrej Security Solutions as the Peace of Mind Partner and Mother Dairy as the Nutrition Partner. The web-series will be shown on Firstpost and its Facebook & YouTube channel.
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.
