News Broadcasting
ESS urges Hathway subscribers to switch to Zee DTH
MUMBAI: The ongoing face-off between sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports and cable MSO Hathway Datacom that has left soccer enthusiasts gnashing their teeth in frustration has taken an interesting new turn.
ESS today exhorted subscribers of the Rajan Raheja-promoted Hathway (in which Star India officially has a 26 per cent stake) hit by the switch-off of its signal to opt for Zee’s DTH platform Dish TV.
A statement issued by ESS even provides a toll free number on which viewers can call to get Dish TV installed.
ESS accuses Hathway of refusing to “respond to all efforts made to resolve the pending outstanding issue.” ESS has further charged that Hathway has not paid the monthly subscription fees due to it since February and has not honored various commitments made, including the signing of a service contract. ESS’ argument is that it has been “left with no choice but to discontinue its services to Hathway till the outstanding amount is realized and a service contract is executed.”
Countering ESS’ assertions, a release issued by Hathway late this evening has termed the sports broadcaster’s contention as “mala fide, baseless and false.” Putting forth its case, the statement issued by the MSO says, “During the past few years Hathway has paid subscription fee in excess of Rs 40 crores (Rs 400 million) to ESS. It is surprising that ESS is wrongly publishing malicious propaganda against Hathway. In the last several years not a single pay channel broadcaster has shut off signals to Hathway. Hathway has always been prompt and regular in its dealings with all broadcasters including ESS.”
“The current dispute is a deliberate ploy by ESS arbitrarily seeking to hike the monthly rates in violation of the TRAI order, which has frozen all the pay channels rates as well as the cable subscription fee,” Hathway has stated, further accusing it of refusing “to accept Hathway’s cheques deliberately to instigate a crisis.”
Whatever may be the contentions of the two parties to this dispute, the fact is that soccer and tennis enthusiasts who subscribe to Hathway are missing out on the Euro 2004 and Wimbledon action.
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.
