News Broadcasting
BBC’s sitcom ‘The Office’ to get a French flavour
MUMBAI: The BBC’s sitcom The Office, is about to cross the Channel to wow French audiences with their version of the show.
Le Bureau has been licenced from BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, and has just finished filming with French cast and the original script adapted into French. It is due to hit French TV screens on Canal+ in the Spring, and will be the first time the Golden Globe-winning comedy has been produced in a foreign language.
Writer and star of The Office, Ricky Gervais, says, “I am still genuinely shocked at The Office’s appeal in other countries. We didn’t write it with a world market in mind. In fact, we never thought it would be a huge hit in Britain. We wrote it for ourselves and like-minded people. There are a lot more of those people that we could have imagined. But I won’t be happy till I see an Inuit doing the dance.”
BBC Worldwide director of formats Colin Jarvis says, “This is an exciting move for The Office. We’ll be watching closely to see how the humour and interaction between the beleaguered staff and the overzealous boss play out in a completely different language and culture. But the move paves the way for a whole set of David Brents to appear across the world.”
Wernham-Hogg, the Slough-based paper mill, where nothing ever seemed to get done becomes Cogirep, a down-at-heel office based in the featureless Villepinte, a well-known business park to the north of Paris. The cast, as in the original version, is made up of mainly unknown actors, with the exception of office manager Gilles Triquet, Francois Berléand, (pictured), who fills the role of Ricky Gervais’ David Brent.
A slightly older version of his UK counterpart, Triquet will be just as beleaguered, and it is hoped that his bizarre philosophies on life, which came to be known affectionately in the UK as ‘Brent-isms’, will be heard all over the country.
The Office was first broadcast in the UK five eyars ago and ran for two series with two Christmas specials. The series finale, broadcast in 2003 reached 6.14 million viewers.
Although Le Bureau will be the first foreign language version of the sitcom, the original stories have been sold in 80 countries worldwide making it the most successful BBC comedy export of all time. The format was sold to the US two years ago, following the sitcom’s Golden Globe win, where it aired its initial 16 episodes over two seasons on NBC. It has recently been recommissioned for a third series, comprising 28 episodes.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
