News Broadcasting
Times Prime partners with Uber to provide exclusive benefits to its members across premium ride categories
MUMBAI: Times Internet Limited (TIL) and Uber have been strategic partners since the world’s largest ride-hailing corporation entered the Indian market. In their combined commitment to deliver the best experiences to customers, TIL and Uber have further deepened the relationship and partnered to provide exclusive benefits across multiple ride categories to subscribers of Times Prime, TIL’s comprehensive lifestyle membership offering.
Times Prime members can now avail savings worth Rs.7800 on cab bookings on Uber. These benefits are redeemable at all 35 Indian cities Uber operates in over the 12 months period of Times Prime subscription.
Vivek Jain, Business Head – Times Prime said, “Times Prime was launched with a vision to provide exclusive benefits to subscribers across all high-frequency digital use cases. Ride-hailing is one of the primary use cases for digital India with increased population turning to mobile apps that provide the convenience of calling a cab service anytime, anywhere. Uber, as the world's largest, technology-driven company in the ride-hailing industry, shares our vision of improving everyday life for customers. This led us to extend our long-standing strategic partnership with Uber to enable our subscribers to upgrade their commuting experience”
Prabhjeet Singh, Head of All Cities, India & South Asia – Uber said, “At Uber, we believe in igniting opportunity by bringing innovative solutions to urban mobility. India is one of the fastest-growing markets for us and we see huge potential in our partnership with Times Prime. Together we aim at providing any user with the convenience of availing a premium ride-hailing service at an affordable price.”
Riders, with a Times Prime subscription, will get 25% off up to Rs. 50 on Uber Premier, 20% off up to Rs. 100 on UberHire and 15% off up to Rs. 200 on UberIntercity. They can avail UberPremier and UberHire offers thrice every month and UberIntercity offer once every month by simply applying a unique promo code on their Uber app.
At an introductory price of Rs. 999 only, Times Prime’s premium lifestyle membership now offers exclusive access to 7 premium memberships that include Swiggy Super, Gourmet Passport by Dineout worth Rs. 1499, Gaana+ by Gaana worth Rs. 399, exclusive access to TOI+, the ad-free online version of the world’s largest circulating newspaper, FreshClub subscription worth Rs. 399 and annual Urbanclap’s premium Beauty & Wellness and Homecare packages worth Rs. 1200. Its exclusive payment partnerships with HDFC Payzapp, HDFC Times Card & Times Points can be used to purchase the Times Prime membership at up to 50% discount. Customers can easily recover their membership fee within the first week and save up to Rs. 60,000 every year, making Times Prime the most comprehensive and cost-effective premium subscription service available in India.
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.
