News Broadcasting
Arianespace launches 2 birds, readies for more launches in August
Arianespace has successfully launched two communications satellites: Stellat 5, built by Alcatel Space for the new Stellat joint venture; and N-STAR c, produced by American manufacturers Orbital Sciences Corporation and Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems for Japanese telecom giant NTT DoCoMo. Both satellites were launched last Friday within minutes of each other.
Flight 153, which carried the ninth and tenth payloads carried by Arianespace this year, was the ninth commercial launch of the Ariane 5 launcher. Arianespace has signed up eight new payloads so far this year. Flight 153 was performed by an Ariane 5 launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The Stellat 5 is the first satellite to be deployed by Stellat, a joint venture formed in January 2001 by France Telecom and Europe*Star, a subsidiary of Alcatel Space and Loral Space & Communications, with the former holding a 70 per cent stake in the JV.. The Stellat 5 satellite was built by Alcatel Space, using the Spacebus 3000 B3 platform. It will be positioned at 5 degrees West, and is equipped with 35 Ku-band and 10 C-band transponders. Stellat 5 will help bolster the IP and video transmission services offered by France Telecom and Europe*Star in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, specially Internet access with a satellite return channel.
N-STAR c, a mobile telephony satellite, was launched for the American companies Orbital Sciences Corp and Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems as part of a turnkey contract with Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo. The satellite was built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, which supplied the payload and was responsible for integration. Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp. provided the platform and ground facilities, and will handle satellite positioning in orbit. Fitted with 20 S-band transponders and one C-band transponder, N-STAR c will expand the mobile telephony services offered by NTT DoCoMo throughout Japan, says Arianespace.
The next Ariane mission Flight 155, is slated for late August. An Ariane 5 will boost two satellites into geostationary transfer orbit: Atlantic Bird 1 for Alenia Spazio, and Eumetsat’s MSG 1 meteorological spacecraft. Atlantic Bird 1 satellite will be used and operated by Eutelsat as part of its fleet. It will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 12.5 degrees West, above the Atlantic Ocean.
Built by Alenia Spazio, this satellite will be optimised to provide broadcast services, telecommunications and IP based networks. With a mass at lift-off of about 2 700 kg, it will provide 24 active Ku-band transponders with coverage over Europe and the Eastern coast of the Americas. The satellite will have an operating lifetime of about 15 years.
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.
