News Broadcasting
Double dose of Disney magic to hit Hong Kong
MUMBAI: The launch of its channels in India may be delayed but in the rest of the Asia Pacific region, the mouse is not wasting time in spreading its reach.
Disney has announced that Hong Kong has become the second Asia Pacific market in four months to launch its television channels. Walt Disney Television International – Asia Pacific (WDTVI-AP) and PCCW have announced that on 2 April Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney Channel will launch on pay-TV network now Broadband TV.
The launch of the Playhouse Disney Channel in Hong Kong marks the entry into Asia of the first dedicated pre-school channel in the region. For the flagship channel Hong Kong is the 10th market in the Asia Pacific to enjoy its programming.
WBTVI-AP senior VP, MD Doug Miller was quoted in an official release saying, “The recent opening up of the pay-TV market in Hong Kong created a strategic opportunity to expand our presence in the Greater China market. This market offers great potential and Disney’s entry into pay-TV in Hong Kong is a milestone in the rapid growth and expansion of Walt Disney TV International across the region”.
WDTVI-AP will offer local language options to subscribers of Disney Channel in Hong Kong who will be able to choose from three language tracks — English, Mandarin or Cantonese — by the end of the year. Selected shows will also be subtitled in Chinese. Subscribers to Playhouse Disney Channel will also be offered the same language configuration over time. Disney Channel is already subtitled and dubbed in other Asian markets including Singapore, Malaysia and Korea.
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.
