News Broadcasting
Andrew Baxter joins BBC Worldwide as head of commercial policy
MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC’s commercial arm BBC Worldwide has appointed Andrew Baxter as head of commercial policy. Baxter will be responsible for the full range of commercial policy matters relating to all of BBC Worldwide’s seven businesses. In particular, he will work to ensure that all of BBC Worldwide’s commercial activities serve the BBC’s wider goal by competing fairly in the marketplace, operating efficiently and through protecting the BBC’s reputation and promoting the BBC’s brand.
He has management responsibility for BBC Worldwide’s compliance with the BBC’s fair trading commitment, Editorial Policy guidelines and the requirements of the new Charter. He will also take the lead in working with the BBC in developing new policy.
BBC Worldwide director of business affairs Sarah Cooper said, “I am delighted to welcome Andrew to the company at a time of exciting new developments. Now that the BBC Charter has been agreed and the remit for BBC Worldwide’s activities has been clarified and endorsed, we are moving ahead with our plans to further increase profits for the BBC whilst ensuring we protect its brand, both at home and abroad. Our strategy includes building some important commercial digital opportunities for our parent and for the UK licence fee payer in what is a fast-changing media landscape.
“A rigorous commercial policy is essential for any global brand with a reputation as strong as ours, and it is core to our business to ensure we always operate according to the four criteria laid down in the Government White Paper published earlier this year. Andrew’s extensive commercial and legal experience across the television industry and his breadth of understanding of regulatory, rights and competition issues will be invaluable as we take BBC Worldwide on to the next stage of growth.”
Baxter said, “It is great to be joining BBC Worldwide at such an exciting time. The cornerstones of Commercial Policy – efficiency, respect for the brand, and fair and transparent trading – are policies which make sense for any responsible business and should help drive profitability and growth. I am very much looking forward to what I see as a really positive and enabling role.”
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.
