News Broadcasting
BBC World buys broadcast company in Japan; increases translation hours
BBC World has announced the purchase of its broadcast company Satellite News Corporation in Japan and an increase of its Japanese translation service from 60.5 to almost 90 hours a week.
BBC World has been a shareholder, together with ITX (formerly Nissho Iwai), of the Satellite News Corporation (SNC) since 1994. SNC is responsible for the marketing and distribution of BBC World throughout Japan and in March 2002 it became the first company fully registered and licensed to operate under the new Japanese Broadcast Utilization Act.
The announcement that BBC World, under the umbrella of its parent company, BBC Worldwide, has become the sole shareholder of the company makes the channel the first foreign company registered to broadcast in Japan, a company release says.
Commenting on the announcement, Patrick Cross, managing director, BBC World, said: “This is by far the most significant commitment that we have made to the Japanese market to date. We know from audience research in the region that viewers value BBC World and the unique translation service we provide on breaking news so it is a great opportunity to be first in the market with our own company as well.”
BBC World has also announced a considerable increase in its Japanese translation service to nearly 90 hours a week. BBC World news in Japanese is translated live and uses more than one voice, unlike many other bilingual transmissions in Japan which are delayed by several hours and use a single voice for all interventions. The total number of translated hours comprises both live news and pre-recorded Japanese versions of BBC World’s current affairs, lifestyle and documentary programming. Translation is carried out by a London-based team of 16 regular translators, backed by some 15 others working on a part time basis and produced by a seven-strong production team.
“This is a great endorsement of the work we do here in the Japanese translation unit. Everyone has worked very hard to provide an excellent service on breaking news stories and given the pace of gobal news events in the past year. I think we have proved we can provide the highest quality output which is now being reflected in the increased hours,” said Shigeru Tabata, Editor Japanese Translation Unit, BBC World.
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.
