News Broadcasting
BBC World news launches in US with RealNetworks
MUMBAI: BBC World chairman Michael Grade has announced that BBC World News, the international news and information channel, will be launched in the US. The channel will be available as part of Real’s SuperPass broadband service.
In a statement issued, the agreement with RealNetworks is BBC World’s first step to giving US audiences a taste of the BBC World News schedule and will be available to RealNetworks’ subscribers. A 14-day free trial is available at www.real.com. Selected BBC World News programming is already broadcast in around 86 million US homes daily on PBS, and at breakfast-time and at 1800 ET on BBC America.
BBC World News is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide and reaches 270 million households (127 million 24-hour homes).
BBC World’s Editorial director, Sian Kevill says: “Independent research has shown a 40 per cent increase in the US audience demand for international news recently. BBC World News can deliver this, and has a worldwide reputation for impartial and accurate reporting, and this is at the core of what our teams do to ensure we bring the stories behind the headlines to our audience.”
“We are extremely pleased to bring BBC World News to our US subscribers,” adds RealNetworks Director international video services Douglas Glen. “This extension of our long-standing partnership in Europe demonstrates the great demand for timely, relevant and global news at your fingertips.”
“We are thrilled with the opportunity to offer our US SuperPass members the highly regarded coverage of BBC World News,” said Dan Sheeran, Senior Vice President, Music & Video, RealNetworks. “Our members will now have access to live coverage of world events and programming 24/7.”
BBC World’s director of distribution and business development Jeff Hazell says: “We have received great interest from a number of US operators looking to take the BBC World News channel on a full-time basis. Our partnership with RealNetworks in the US is a first for BBC World News and we believe that it will generate further audience demand for the channel and bring us closer to launching a 24-hour offer on US cable, satellite and other digital platforms in the United States.”
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: 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.
