News Broadcasting
Vande Mataram- Aaj Tak’s tribute to the War Heroes of the Nation
New Delhi 16th August, 2013: Aaj Tak, India’s undisputed Numero Uno News Channel is launching a one of a kind show, ‘Vande Mataram’ that will pay tribute to the martyrs and unsung war heroes who had put their lives at stake for the nation. The show, “Vande Mataram’ will premiere on 17th August 2013 and will be anchored by noted actor Kabir Bedi along with voice over narration by actor Raza Murad.
The show will bring to life the untold stories behind the many wars that the Nation has fought and will honor the many soldiers who fought for the motherland. The show promises to take the viewer to the depth of India’s war stories and will get the audience to experience the patriotism, battles and victories by taking them to a different era.
The first episode of the show will focus on the War of 1971 against Pakistan and will unravel a lot of facts including the on-ground realities, various war strategies and techniques that will be backed with original archive war footage, innovative graphics and visuals.
The show will have a unique studio setup with real war room sets and exhilarating visual effects that will be backed with well researched content.
Commenting on the launch, Mr. Supriya Prasad – Managing Editor, Aaj Tak said “Vande Mataram is a show that will inspire the feeling of patriotism in our viewers and will take them closer to the realities of war. The show is first of its kind on Indian Television as it will reveal the war secrets that elude the general audience and will also pay tribute to the brave soldiers of our nation who have fought & sacrificed their lives to the cause.”
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.
