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BBC to broadcast from HD studio beginning 14 Jan
MUMBAI: Fresh from announcing new distribution deals in the US and Burma, the BBC‘s international television news channel, BBC World News, is unveiling a new look next week when it re-launches from new studios in central London.
From 12 GMT on 14 January the channel will broadcast from new state of the art High Definition studios in the BBC‘s new London headquarters, the redeveloped Broadcasting House.
The channel will also feature a refreshed line-up of programmes and presenters, and will be investing heavily in additional news gathering capacity around the world.
BBC World News journalists will be at the heart of ‘the world‘s newsroom‘ where the BBC‘s UK and international journalism teams have come together to provide output across digital, radio and television and 27 different languages, reaching an audience of 239 million people around the world each week.
Eventually, 6,000 people – more than a quarter of all BBC staff – will be based in Broadcasting House, one of the world‘s largest broadcast complexes, BBC said in a statement.
The channel will also debut new on air talent including Yalda Hakim, one of Australia‘s brightest international journalists, who has joined the channel as a current affairs correspondent and presenter for a new weekly current affairs programme.
BBC World News has also announced that long time BBC News presenter and reporter Jon Sopel is joining the channel to present Global with Jon Sopel, a new weekday international news programme.
BBC Global News Controller of English Richard Porter said, "BBC World News is kicking off the new year with an entirely new look and feel. From virtual reality capability to full HD production, new presenters and a programming line-up that goes from strength to strength, BBC World News audiences will have access to not only the best, most dynamic journalism in the world, but also the latest technology to enhance storytelling and bring viewers inside the stories that shape our world."
BBC Global News COO Jim Egan said, "This re-launch marks the biggest change for BBC World News in at least a decade and is part of a sustained commitment by the BBC to build on our long history of delivering high quality international news by enhancing our TV and digital offers to viewers, advertisers and distribution partners. We aspire to be recognized as the world‘s best international news provider and will be making a series of investments this year to support that ambition.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
