News Broadcasting
Warner Bros. to expand Sesame brand In China
NEW YORK: In the first deal of its kind for both companies, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organisation, and Warner Bros. Consumer Products will partner to develop and distribute television, print, video, interactive and related merchandise based on Zhima Jie, the Chinese version of Sesame Street. The multi-media early learning initiative will run for an initial period of five years.
The partnership will seek local and global partners to support the creation of three new seasons of television with a total of 195 episodes of Zhima Jie. The goal is to begin airing the first season in 2004. The series encourages children to develop a life-long love of learning, as well as to help them learn to count, read, and respect and appreciate others. Targeted at preschoolers, Zhima Jie aired in China from 1998-2001 on Shanghai Television (STV) and was syndicated across the country.
The updated series will feature more interactive segments showcasing the Zhima Jie characters Hu Hu Zhu, Xiao Mei Zi, and Da Niao (Big Bird) in even more prominent roles. Sesame Workshop and Warner Bros. Consumer Products, in conjunction with Warner Bros. International Television, will jointly seek underwriting for the production.
An official release informs that Sesame Workshop will oversee content and the production of the series. The organisation has co-produced four children’s series in China in addition to the 1982 ground-breaking television special, Big Bird Goes to China, produced with China Central Television. Warner Bros. Consumer Products will mobilise its distribution, marketing, and consumer products expertise to partner with leading Chinese companies across a wide range of media and licensed merchandise. A dedicated staff, based initially in Hong Kong, will oversee marketing, sales and retail initiatives for Sesame branded programming and products. Warner Bros. International Television will be responsible for handling the distribution of the programming in China.
The partnership also includes the broadcast, distribution, and product development rights for Sesame English, a live-action series that introduces children and their families to conversational English, common expressions and vocabulary.
Executive VP, international licensing, worldwide interactive and publishing for Warner Bros. Consumer Products Mark Matheny said, ” The partnership will focus on the values of the Chinese marketplace and expressing these values through brilliant television programming, publishing, and creative merchandising.”
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.
