News Broadcasting
Willy Burkhardt to leave ESPN International
Willy Burkhardt has announced his decision to leave ESPN later this month. As executive V-P, he led ESPNs international efforts and its Enterprises division since 1999. Russell Wolff, senior vice president, ESPN International, has been promoted to managing director and will lead ESPN International going forward.
At ESPN, Burkhardt led a number of initiatives that enhanced the ESPN brand internationally, including numerous network launches, the global expansion of the SportsCenter franchise, an official release states. He also led the growth of the companys joint venture in the Asian region ESPN Star Sports. He implemented important projects with ESPN Enterprises such as the opening of ESPNs first large format film “ESPNs Ultimate X”. Burkhardt will continue to consult with ESPN on international matters for the remainder of the year. Burkhardt said that he would pause for some personal time and travel and to explore other professional challenges.
In his new position as managing director, Wolff will assume full responsibility for all of ESPNs international businesses, which include partial or whole ownership of 24 networks televised outside of the United States to more than 150 countries and territories.
Wolff will directly oversee all aspects of ESPN Internationals networks in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Pacific Rim, including programming, production, marketing, sales, and worldwide program syndication. In addition, he will oversee ESPNs interests in a variety of international joint ventures including ESPN Star Sports in Asia, ESPN Classic Sport in Europe, CTV Specialty Television, Inc. in Canada, and Sports-i ESPN in Japan.
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.
