News Broadcasting
Intelsat and TVB announce Hong Kong Pay-TV Service
Hong Kong: Intelsat and Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) have struct an agreement to provide a new pay-television service for Hong Kong. Through the agreement, Intelsat will own a 51 per cent stake in Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting Limited, which is licensed to provide pay-TV services in Hong Kong as well as teleport services.
Intelsat and TVB are contributing cash, transponder capacity and programming valued at over US$136 million to launch the venture, says an official release. The all-digital, multi-channel service will feature a range of premium Cantonese and other Chinese language programming exclusively supplied by TVB, including a 24-hour news programme. The high-quality Cantonese programming is targeted to the more than 90 per cent of the Hong Kong population, which speaks the language. Galaxy subscribers will also receive a full spectrum of international news, documentary, information, movie and other entertainment channels, the release adds.
Intelsat will move an Intelsat VII series satellite to the 85 East orbital location to transmit the Galaxy service via a high-powered Ku-band beam. Service is expected to begin within 12 months. Additionally, Intelsat will work with TVB to support the global distribution of its programming. The Galaxy service will be uplinked from Galaxy’s teleport in Hong Kong over an Intelsat VII series satellite and downlinked at roof-top receiving dishes. Existing in-building wiring will deliver the service to individual subscriber apartments, the release says.
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.
