News Broadcasting
‘American Idol’ to expand with ‘World Idol’ special this Christmas season
NEW YORK: It promises to be a one-of-a-kind show for Rupert Murdoch’s Fox and could very well bring in bumper ratings that flatten the competition.
Fans of the music contest American Idol are in for a treat this Christmas.
A World Idol two-part special will air on Christmas and New Year’s Day. This will see the winners of localised versions of Pop Idol including the American winner Kelly Clarkson go head-to-head in London. The other countries that will be represented include Canada, Lebanon, South Africa and Poland.
Reports indicate that each jury member will be from one of the countries competing. Viewers around the world will be able to vote and the results will be announced around a week later.
To prevent bias fans will have to vote for a competitor from another country. Reports also indicate that the vote will take into account population differences between the competing countries. An Indian version of the show is in the works at Star.
The Idol franchise began in the UK in October 2001 as Pop Idol. Since then it has been replicated in over 20 countries. The World Idol organisers, including American Idol producer Simon Fuller, are aiming to find what they call “the world’s ultimate pop superstar”. The actual recording of the show will take place early next month.
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.
