Aaj Tak was first broadcast on DD Metro of Doordarshan (DD) in 1995. It was then broadcast as a news programme of 10 to 20 minutes. Aaj Tak came into existence in December 2000 as an independent news channel. It then became the first complete Hindi news channel in the country to be broadcast twenty-four hours. One of the anchors at the time was Surendra Pratap Singh. [1][2] The tagline for Aaj Tak was "यह थी ख़बर आज तक, इंतज़ार कीजिए कल तक" (transl. That's all the news for today, wait until tomorrow).[1] Aaj Tak was the first news channel in India to use OB vans.[3]
In March 2023, the India Today Group introduced Sana for Aaj Tak, the nation's first AI-powered news anchor designed to deliver daily news updates in multiple languages. Sana also facilitates interactive question-and-answer sessions aimed at increasing audience engagement.[7] By the time the channel came into existence, it had a reach of 52 lakh households. It now broadcasts to three crore households and its viewership in news channels is 56%.[2] On 14 December 2018, Aaj Tak launched India's first Hindi high-definition channel, Aaj Tak HD.[4] A channel rebranding took place in January 2021.[5]
In September 2001, during the World Trade Center attacks, Aaj Tak achieved the highest viewership ratings among 15 markets, according to Nielsen Media Research. In Delhi, the channel's viewership was at 23 percent on September 11 and rose to 39 percent by September 15.[6] On 14 December 2018, Aaj Tak launched India's first Hindi high-definition channel, Aaj Tak HD.[4] Aaj Tak HD broadcasts news and two extra shows like Duniya Aaj Tak aired from 2019 (transl. World up to the minute) covering world news, Business Aaj Tak aired from 2019 (transl. Business up to the minute) covering the financial news of India and the world. Aaj Tak HD also broadcast Movie Masala between 2019 and 2020 (transl. Movie Spice), covering the news of Bollywood.