News Broadcasting
Alison Woodhams named COO and financial director of BBC World Service
MUMBAI:BBC World Service’s new chief operating officer and financial director Alison Woodhams has been appointed.
She takes up her post in January 2005. She will be responsible for the BBC World Service’s finances, property and all business development activities.
BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman said: “Alison brings considerable experience at the highest level in financial matters.”
“She will bring substantial skill and enthusiasm to the major challenges we face in the years ahead.” he explains in a company release.
Woodhams has been the BBC’s Group Financial Controller since 2001. Since July 2004 she has been the acting finance director of the BBC responsible for managing all the finances of the Corporation.
Alison Woodhams said,”I look forward to helping ensure that BBC World Service continues to maintain the ability to respond quickly to audiences’ changing needs and its commitment to serving them better.”
Alison has been with the BBC since 1995, beginning as Head of Finance for the BBC’s English Regional Services. She became Head of Internal Audit across the whole of the BBC in 1998, informs the media release.
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.
