BENGALURU: The English news genre in India is a niche genre that often commands higher ad rates than its Hindi or regional news channel peers. Elections are cash cows for news channels is a given. Debates, polls, status of voting attendance on elections day in respective phases, results bring more than normal eyeballs to news channels. So how did the top 5 English news channels fare in week 21 of 2019 (Saturday, 18 May 2019 to Friday, 24 May 2019, week or period under review)?

Reliance Broadcast Network Limited-operated FM radio networks brand BIG FM being acquired by Music Broadcast Limited (MBL) is one of the biggest consolidations the radio industry has seen in the last one year. Industry experts consider the development a good move.

Television remained to be the most sought-after medium for ad insertions across all mediums from January-March 2019, as was the case in the first quarter of 2018, shows TAM AdEx data.

TAM AdEx has released cross-media advertising data for TV, Print and Radio. Print went for 99% ad insertions on TV this year, an increase of 3% from last year.

Maenwhile, Radio seems to be the least favoured in terms of Print as the ad insertions went down from 4% in the first quarter of 2018 to 1% in 2019.

MUMBAI: The Hindi news genre has attained the third highest weekly level in week 21 with 1.6 billion impressions, according to data provided by BARC India. Furthermore, the counting day attained the all-time high (at day level) for Hindi news with 620 million impressions.

Hindi news channels were viewed by 279 million people over the week which is an increase of 30% versus the previous four week average. The English news channels were viewed by 14 million people over the week which is an increase of 60% over the previous four week average.

MUMBAI: The battle of the biggest cricket teams from across the globe for the coveted ICC Cricket World Cup begins on 30 May and so does a clash of advertisers on various streaming platforms. This once-in-four-year event has a great strategic value for advertisers in India as for the people here. The added advantage this year is that the matches are being held at Indian primetime.

As per Havas Media Group India managing director Mohit Joshi, matches that India will be playing are expected to deliver around 5+ TVRs (avg) and non-India matches are expected to display around 1.5 to 2 TVRs (avg).

MUMBAI: With the commencement of the largest cricketing tournament – ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Star Sports brings fans some exciting news. Sachin Tendulkar debuts as an on-air expert starting with the opening game of the tournament; England vs South Africa on May 30.

Master Blaster Sachin is known to be a destructive opening batsman whose 25-year-long career and his life beyond cricket is an impeccable display of excellence. While he begins his new stint exclusively with Star Sports network, fans will be in for a never-before-seen side of the master where he imparts his cricketing knowledge with viewers.

MUMBAI: With more than 30 OTT players in the Indian market, consolidation talks are just around the corner. At an event held by Promax, experts discussed several other pressing issues during a panel discussion named ‘OTT: To infinity and Beyond’ moderated by Big Synergy CEO Rajiv Bakshi. Amazon Prime Video director and head, content Vijay Subramaniam, Eros digital COO Ali Hussein, ZEE5 programming head Aparna Acharekar, MX Player chief content officer Gautam Talwar, Shemaroo Entertainment COO digital Zubin Dubash took part in the panel

English movies genre secured the second position in gainers list with 13.82 per cent growth. Movies Now gained the highest OTS in the genre with 32.5 per cent in 6 metro market.

MUMBAI: Viacom18 head regional TV network Ravish Kumar has led the company's remarkable and rapid rise as a regional force in the last couple of years. Viacom18's regional TV network currently contributes 22 per cent to the company's revenues, with eventual objective of achieving a 50 per cent share. Taking another step towards accomplishing that target, the company on Tuesday announced the launch of its latest regional offering - Colors Gujarati Cinema. Set for a 1 June launch, the 24-hour movie channel will help Viacom18 further consolidate its position in the Rs 100-crore market, which is dominated by Colors Gujarati with a 43 per cent share. The twin channels are expected to take Viacom18's share of the pie upwards of 50 per cent rather quickly. In order to understand the larger objective behind the new channel and the company's overall content play in the regional space, Indiantelevision.com interacted with Ravish Kumar, the driving force behind Viacom18's regional expansion.

MUMBAI: In what can be considered as a major boost to Netflix’s India operations, the streaming giant has secured the services of Monika Shergill - EVP and head content Viacom18 Digital Ventures. Widely regarded as one of the key drivers of Voot, the stellar entertainment executive will take up the crucial role of Head, Series, International Originals, Netflix India.

"We can confirm that Monika Shergill will join Netflix as Head, Series, International Originals, Netflix India," the streaming service told