News Broadcasting
BBC Arabic launches an online marketing campaign
MUMBAI: BBC World Service has announced that following the success of BBC Arabic’s interactive road show Your future… who decides it? in North Africa and the Middle East earlier this year, it has launched an online marketing campaign promoting its latest way of connecting with audiences – a BBC Arabic e-newsletter.
Entitled Be the first to know, the ad campaign aims to reach 19 million online users with advertisements appearing on a number of key pan-Arab websites including MSN Arabia – Hotmail and Messenger, Yahoo, and Ebay.
Be the first to know promotes the new monthly, free BBC Arabic language e- newsletter. Subscribers get an insider’s view of the most popular and trusted non-Arab news broadcaster in the Middle East and North Africa.
They receive a monthly update on the programmes and special features coming up, have an opportunity to share their views and opinions with online debates and polls and get behind-the-scenes insights of BBC Arabic with profiles on their favourite presenters and backgrounds on the top stories.
There are also opportunities to link with debates on bbcarabic.com and to enter a variety of competitions with a range of exciting prizes.
BBC World Service marketing, communications and audiences Controller Alan Booth says that the BBC Arabic e-newsletter is a way of connecting with young people in the Middle East. “We met over quarter of a million people through Your future… who decides it? Over 33,000 gave us their names for further contacts,” he says.
“They are passionate about the news and events that affect their lives – and the lives of friends and family at home and around the world. The BBC Arabic e-newsletter ensures they can follow news events through BBC Arabic coverage on radio and online and prompts opportunities to express their views.
“We also know young people are already using the Internet, which is why we are using online advertising for Be the first to know.”
BBC World Service used Amman-based design agency Mint to produce creative work for the campaign. The London-based specialist online agency Agency Republic planned and bought the advertising space. Database management and email marketing services will be managed by Broadsystem based in London. Subscriptions will be driven via a dedicated page on bbcarabic.com.
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.
