News Broadcasting
BBC’s podcasting activity gathering steam in the UK
MUMBAI: The BBC’s attempts at using the Internet as an alternative means of delivering content to its viewers in the UK is gathering steam. The broadcaster has announced that it will podcast up to 20 more radio shows – including sections of the Today programme and selected Radio 1 speech content – as it extends its download trial.
BBC Radio and Music Interactive controller Simon Nelson revealed that more programmes will be available to download and podcast at bbc.co.uk/radio until the end of the year. This follows the popularity of the BBC’s previous downloading trial.
Podcasting is an extension of downloading, whereby listeners can have new programmes automatically delivered to their computer as soon as they are posted on the Web. Listeners download an application (such as iPodder) that checks the Web to find the new version of tagged audio files – such as In Our Time – the listener has selected.
Nelson says, “These technologies can transform the value we deliver to audiences and make our programmes more accessible for both new and existing audiences. The BBC was the first British broadcaster to podcast when we made In Our Time available last year and this trial will enable us to further explore the editorial, technical and distribution issues involved.”
The BBC is hoping that the project will offer a more detailed picture of audiences’ appetite for downloads and their preferred content. Moreover, the time-limited trial has been set up to better inform the development of the BBC strategy for audio downloads and on-demand content, which Nelson is leading across the BBC.
The trial means the BBC will offer its first daily podcasts – the Today programme’s 8.10am interview – along with weekly titles and speech highlights from Radio 1 programmes for listeners to download and transfer to portable audio players.
The programmes confirmed so far for podcasting include In Business. Anchor Peter Day examines trends and developments in industry and the world of work. Another show From Our Own Correspondent delivers personal reflections by BBC correspondents around the world. On the show In Our Time the host Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the history of ideas.
The BBC will also include a series of radio programmes in its next trial of the Interactive Media Player (iMP). This trial will offer rights-protected, time-limited downloads of both TV and radio programmes. The imp aims to offer UK residents a TV and radio catch-up service for programmes that have been broadcast, as part of the BBC’s drive to use new technology to offer even greater public value to licence fee payers.
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: 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.
