News Broadcasting
BBC launches mobile news service in Dhaka
MUMBAI: BBC World Service has teamed up with QA Konsortium, a mobile content aggregator in Bangladesh, to launch a SMS news service in Dhaka.
The service provides subscribers with news from the BBC gathered from all over the world via a single SMS sent to their mobile phone.
BBC news on-demand is available in seven categories – Asia Pacific, Breaking News, Cricket, Entertainment, Football, South Asia and World News.
Subscribers can register by sending “reg bbc” to 6666.
BBC Bengali head Sabir Mustafa said, “News through mobile phones is the newest frontier of today’s broadcasting world, and the BBC is at the forefront of this new media revolution.
“By combining cutting edge technology with our high editorial standards and unequalled newsgathering capability, we are able to bring the world to mobile phone users in Bangladesh at the touch of a button.”
QA Konsortium head AK Mahuiddin said, “The BBC’s credibility and position of clear global news leadership will add unparalleled value to our subscribers’ experience.
“Staying in touch through a credible news media is now virtually mandatory in a world where reliable information has become a vital decision-making currency for all walks of life.”
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.
