News Broadcasting
Asiasat 4 scheduled for early April launch
HONG KONG: AsiaSat 4, the fourth satellite of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company (AsiaSat), has arrived in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA aboard a chartered heavy lift cargo aircraft.
Preparation for launching AsiaSat 4 by the Atlas IIIB rocket has commenced. This new satellite is currently scheduled for an early April launch.
AsiaSat 4, a Boeing 601HP model, will be deployed at the orbital location of 122 degrees east longitude, to replace AsiaSat 1. The new satellite is designed to provide advanced satellite services such as DTH television broadcasting, VSAT networks for business, rural telephony, broadband and IP solutions.
In a press statement, Asiasat CEO Peter Jackson was quoted as saying: “AsiaSat 4 will be the largest member of AsiaSat’s satellite fleet. Its unique and high performance C-band coverage will complement and provide redundancy for our two existing satellites, AsiaSat 2 and AsiaSat 3S. It will further expand our satellite capacity over the Asia Pacific region and enable our customers to enjoy unbeatable back up and greater flexibility for regional coverage.”
“AsiaSat 4’s high power Ku-band beams customised for Australia, East Asia and Hong Kong would be the ideal platform for delivering Direct-to-Home (DTH) and broadband solutions to these regions,” Jackson adds.
Carrying 28 C-band and 20 Ku-band transponders with a 15-year design life, AsiaSat 4’s pan Asian C-band footprint will cover more than 40 countries and regions from Auckland to Tehran.
The Ku-band coverage will consist of two high-power focused beams for East Asia and Australia, as well as a new BSS (Broadcast Satellite Service) Hong Kong payload for DTH services in Hong Kong and the adjacent South China region.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
