News Broadcasting
BBC launches new language training software
FRANKFURT(GERMANY): BBC Worldwide, the chief commercial arm of the BBC has launched Doki – a Flash-based language training software that is available on its new consumer e-learning portal, www.bbclearning.com.
The new portal service, BBCLearning.com, will make a select range of online learning programmes available from third party suppliers, including Eazyspeak Ltds flagship language product Doki. BBC Worldwide intends to promote the online service through its cable and satellite television stations BBC Prime and BBC World reaching 225 million homes worldwide.
The courses cover a wide range of topics and are divided into four categories for easy navigation. Business (including IT skills), languages, interests (including hobbies and leisure) and studies (containing many accredited courses from some of the worlds top universities).
Eazyspeak Ltd. currently distributes beginner and pre-intermediate Doki English and Doki Spanish language learning products with French, World Spanish and US English coming online later this year. Under the terms of the agreement Eazyspeak Ltd will manage the actual logistics.
With Doki, there is no grammar to learn, there are no rules as such and theres no set course one needs to follow. Users decide when and where they want to learn. Doki familiarises you with a language and provides the basics for everyday conversations. The premise is that the longer users stay and play, the more they will learn.
Suitable for anyone over the age of four, the main target audience for the Doki products are the 16-25 year olds. Doki is completely monolingual and modular software and is built with scenarios grouped by real life communication challenges found in the real world (such as introducing yourself, going to the supermarket, checking into a hotel).
Doki can be used as a self-study tool and can complement a taught environment with a pathway set by a teacher. Users decide what they want to learn by choosing places to explore, becoming fully engaged with the animation and interactivity found in each venue. This unique approach empowers and even entertains users who then quickly begin to assimilate the sound, recognise the vocabulary and understand the structure of a new language, without recourse to lengthy grammar explanations or exercises.
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.
