News Broadcasting
BBC World News encrypts across APAC
MUMBAI: The BBC has encrypted the SD feed of its 24 hour international news channel, BBC World News, across the APAC region.
The move aims to bring the SD feed in line with the HD offering and counter piracy by ensuring that consumers can now only view the channel through approved suppliers. The encryption has been through a two month testing phase and will be enforced across all 119 sites in the region by the end of January.
BBC World News director of distribution Colin Lawrence said, “We are constantly looking for ways to improve the service we offer our partners and affiliates across APAC and this is the latest in a long line of investments we’re making to further strengthen our international news offering in the region and ensure that our commercial relationships are fully protected.”
In September, a new state-of-the-art digital newsroom and studio opened in Singapore and saw all of BBC World News’ Asia broadcasts switch to HD. The facilities, which are the main hub for BBC World News and bbc.com in Asia, bring the BBC’s news, business and digital teams together.
The BBC also appointed Karishma Vaswani as its new Asia business correspondent and launched bbc.jp – a Japanese-language version of its global website bbc.com.
News Broadcasting
Book Cricket gets a digital century on News18 amid T20 fever
Nostalgic classroom game revamped in English, Hindi plus Telugu on web and app.
MUMBAI: When the T20 World Cup fever hits fever pitch, News18 decides to flip the script straight back to the classroom. The digital news platform has revived the timeless schoolyard favourite Book Cricket as an interactive online game, perfectly timed to ride the cricket wave gripping fans across the globe. The reimagined Book Cricket ditches textbooks for smartphones, blending old-school nostalgia with modern gameplay. Once a sneaky recess pastime played by flicking book pages to score runs, the digital version now offers seamless fun for anyone craving a quick cricket fix between overs.
Available in English, Hindi and Telugu (with more languages planned across News18’s network), the game sits within the platform’s fast-growing gaming portfolio of over 20 titles, all built in-house. It joins event-driven hits like ‘Kursi Catcher’ and ‘Result Rewind’ during the 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections, plus festive specials such as ‘Durga’s Astras’ for Durga Puja and ‘Mouse Modak’ for Ganesh Chaturthi.
News18 Digital CEO Mitul Sangani said, “Gaming is a key pillar of our engagement strategy. At News18, we uniquely combine our newsroom agility with immersive gaming experiences. By blending credible content with interactive formats, we are creating meaningful engagement in an era defined by shrinking attention spans and evolving consumption habits.”
Select titles have expanded beyond News18.com to CNBC-TV18.com and Firstpost.com, reflecting the network’s push to deepen user interaction across platforms. The Book Cricket game is live now at https://www.news18.com/games/book-cricket/.
In a tournament where every boundary counts, News18’s digital Book Cricket proves the simplest games can still deliver the biggest smiles no syllabus required, just pure cricket joy one page-flip at a time.
