News Broadcasting
Bedi, old-time Murdoch hand, departs News Corp
MUMBAI: News Corp has announced that Bedi A. Singh will be departing as the chief financial officer effective 1 March. Susan Panuccio, currently the chief financial officer of News Corp Australia, will become the new CFO.
Following his departure, Singh intends to pursue new opportunities; however he has agreed to serve as a senior advisor to News Corp on its digital property interests in India, reporting to Robert Thomson, Chief Executive, and will also join the advisory board of Move, Inc., which operates realtor.com®.
During Singh’s time at News Corp, the company’s significant acquisitions included Move, Inc., operator of realtor.com®; Harlequin Enterprises; Wireless Group, operator of talkSPORT; and tech-startups Storyful, Unruly and Checkout 51. News Corp also made strategic investments in India, including the acquisition of VCCircle and BigDecisions.com and an investment in PropTiger.com, which recently came together with Housing.com to become the largest digital real estate company in India.
“I asked Bedi to come back in 2012 to help get the new News Corp up and running, and he’s done a great job doing just that,” said executive chairman Rupert Murdoch. “Through his astute financial management of key acquisitions and divestitures, and with the prudent institution of cost controls across the businesses, Bedi has helped News Corp weather the challenges of this era better than its peers, and put it on firm footing for long-term growth and profitability.”
“I am also pleased to announce Susan Panuccio as our new CFO. Her superb work at News Corp Australia makes her the ideal successor to Bedi, and we look forward to her joining us at headquarters as we take on new opportunities in the years ahead,” said Murdoch.
Singh rejoined News Corporation in 2012 and was named CFO as part of the new leadership team of News Corp in June, 2013. His previous work with News Corporation included senior finance roles at News International (now News UK) and 20th Century Fox (now 21st Century Fox). He also served as President, Finance and Administration & CFO for MGM Studios and as CFO at Gemstar-TV Guide, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“We said at our rebirth in 2013, when Bedi was recruited back into the News Corp fold, that we would be relentlessly global and digital in our focus, and Bedi has certainly helped us achieve that goal,” said Thomson. “The diversity of our business, particularly with the significant expansion into digital real estate, aggressive transition to digital across our mastheads and strategic tech acquisitions, have made us a stronger company today. That success could not have been achieved without Bedi’s financial stewardship.”
“I have had the professional pleasure of working closely with Susan Panuccio, and she’s the right person to drive the next important phase of growth at News Corp,” said Thomson. “Susan is rigorous in her work and strategic in her thinking.”
“From the outset nearly four years ago, all of us at News Corp have had the mindset of a start-up, moving quickly to seize the moment and expand both digitally and globally. That has made my time here both exciting and fulfilling,” said Singh. “Helping get the new News Corp off the ground and well-positioned for future growth is something I am immensely proud of, and I’m grateful to Rupert and Robert for the opportunity to work with them and everyone at News Corp to set the company on such a strong strategic course.”
Panuccio has been the CFO for News Corp Australia since September, 2013. She previously served at News International in several positions, including CFO. She began her career as a Senior Accountant at KPMG Australia.
“I am looking forward to the next exciting challenge in my career at News Corp, having worked for the company in both the UK and Australia. I am delighted to have been given this opportunity to work with our talented executive teams across the businesses,” said Panuccio.
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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.
