NDTV’s India Matters takes the Best News Programme award at the Asian Television Awards 2026
Shiv Aroor, Managing Editor, NDTV, has won the Best News Presenter award at the Asian Television Awards 2026. He represented NDTV’s India Matters in a field of nominees from news channels across India and Asia.
India Matters also won Best News Programme, earning NDTV two awards for the same show.
The double win brings NDTV’s tally at the Asian Television Awards to 13. The network previously won 11 awards across 10 editions between 2003 and 2020. These are NDTV’s first wins since 2020.
Launched in 1996, the Asian Television Awards are among Asia-Pacific broadcasting’s longest-running industry honours, recognising excellence in programming, production and on-air performance. Entries are judged by industry professionals with senior experience in commissioning, production and acquisition.
For NDTV, the double win continues a record of recognition at the awards across successive generations of its newsroom. It places India Matters in a tradition of NDTV journalism that has earned the regard of its peers across the region.
The recognition comes at a time when audiences have to make sense of events amid a constant stream of commentary, clips stripped of context and synthetic content that can look convincingly real. Generative AI makes it easier to produce an image, a voice or a video that appears authentic. It also makes a newsroom’s judgement more visible and more consequential. The awards recognise a new NDTV’s pursuit of editorial excellence and its commitment to bringing viewers verified news When It Really Matters.
Rahul Kanwal, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, NDTV, said, “We see these awards as an endorsement of the spirit of journalism and of the work our newsroom does every day to uphold it. At time when an image can look entirely real and a claim can reach millions before anyone has checked it, the first responsibility of a newsroom is to establish the facts. From there, we have to ask what those facts mean, whose lives they affect and who should answer for the decisions being made. Shiv and the India Matters team bring that discipline to the broadcast every evening. It is what we mean when we say ‘When It Really Matters.’”
India Matters brings reporting, analysis and conversation to the stories shaping India and its place in the world. The programme gives viewers the context to understand how events unfold, why they matter and what they could mean for India.
“On a big news night, most people watching have already seen a version of the story. They may have seen a clip or heard a claim that everyone seems to be repeating. When we go on air, I want to tell them about how the real story is unfolding and why it matters. I share this recognition with the team that makes those conversations possible and with the viewers who expect us to ask one more question,” said Shiv Aroor, Managing Editor, NDTV.
For NDTV, When It Really Matters is a commitment to stay with the facts, ask questions with independence and give viewers the context they need to make up their own minds.