News Broadcasting
Star Hindi package on DirecTV priced at $ 30 a month
MUMBAI: News Corp controlled digital television service provider DirecTV today officially announced a multi-year agreement with the Star Group making available four Star India channels as part of its new suite of international services.
As first reported on indiantelevision.com, four Star channels – Star Plus, Star One, Star News and Star Vijay – launched in the US on 2 November on the DirecTV platform.
The United States logos for Star Plus and Star News will incorporate the word ‘India’ to denote the Indian origin of the programming.
Also announced was the launch of CricketTicket, which will be the first-ever season-long subscription TV package for international cricket.
The new Star channels are available to both DirecTV residential and commercial customers. The HindiDirect residential package that includes Star Plus, Star One and Star News, is $29.99 per month. The TamilDirect residential package (Star Vijay) is $14.99 per month.
As regards CricketTicket, the cricket programming available is the same (Bangladesh excluded) as what is currently on ESPN Star Sports in India. What DirecTV has rights to therefore is international cricket from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. The deals run for the next four years.
The inaugural “CricketTicket season” runs till 31 March, 2005. The package is available for $199.
“The South Asian population in the US, which accounts for more than 2 million people and is one of the fastest growing communities, will now have access to the same top-rated, high-quality programming that is available in India,” said Direc TV president and CEO Mitchell Stern. “We are delighted to be able to provide programming for our South Asian viewers that is informative, entertaining and relevant to their lives. These are the first of several international channels that we are rolling out and we are looking forward to providing our ethnic customers with the most compelling programming lineup available.”
Star Group CEO Michelle Guthrie said, “We are excited to bring Star’s innovative and record-breaking Indian programming to viewers in the United States. Our relationship with DirecTV will enable more people to enjoy the shows that have made us a household name in India and it is in line with our aim of expanding and strengthening our distribution. I have no doubt that our Indian channels, popular already in countries outside of India such as the UK, Middle East and Singapore, will be well-received in the United States.”
Technical Specifications: Broadcast is from 95-degree West Longitude (WL) orbital slot, requiring customers to use a new 36-inch dish capable of receiving programming from 95 degrees WL, as well as DirecTV’s primary orbital slot at 101 degrees WL. In some markets, customers who subscribe to a local channels package will require a second smaller dish.
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.
