News Broadcasting
Alan Hodges named managing director, Asia-Pacific for AETN international
MUMBAI: AETN international vice president and managing director, Europe and Asia Simon Pollock has announced Alan Hodges as the managing director Asia-Pacific for AETN international, a division of A&E television networks (AETN).
Hodges joins AETN international from Zone Media Group where he served as managing director Asia Pacific.
Based in Singapore Hodges is responsible for managing and growing AETN’s Asian portfolio of businesses. He serves as a point person for existing and new business development in the region, including current and future channel partnerships, program sales, digital media distribution opportunities, and future local productions.
AETN channel brands include The History Channel, A&E, The Biography Channel, and Crime & Investigation Network.
“We are aggressively moving to expand the footprint of our channel brands throughout the Asia-Pacific region, via both traditional linear television channels and on digital media platforms,” said Pollock.
“Alan’s strategic and operational experience will be crucial as we move forward in choosing our new partners, and we are very pleased to have him join our staff,” he added.
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.
