News Broadcasting
China Telecom, Utstarcom to expand commercial IPTV coverage in Shanghai
MUMBAI: The IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and services provider Utstarcom has announced that it has signed a follow-on contract to deploy its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution to China Telecom, the largest fixed-line telecom operator in China.
The commercial IPTV network is initially designed to support 51,000 users in Shanghai, which is also the largest city in China with a population of approximately 18 million. The number of broadband users in Shanghai continues to grow at a rapid rate approaching two million subscribers at the end of first quarter of 2006. UTStarcom believes these factors provide a solid foundation for the IPTV market in both Shanghai and China.
“We believe the opportunity to deploy a commercial IPTV network with China Telecom for a large number of additional subscribers in Shanghai will lay a solid foundation for UTStarcom’s future market development of IPTV in China,” says UTStarcom China chairman & CEO . “We believe that RollingStream is the best-in-class IPTV solution in the market. It is a mature, IP-based platform that is designed to provide carrier-class, end-to- end triple-play services to carriers worldwide.”
Prior to this deployment, China Telecom Shanghai selected UTStarcom to deploy an initial 5,000-user IPTV network in November 2005. During the first stage of deployment, UTStarcom’s RollingStream solution was put through a rigorous series of technology tests, states an official release.
Partnering with Shanghai Media Group (SMG), China Telecom Shanghai plans to offer subscribers a service package of live broadcast television and videos-on-demand. Additionally, the service is designed to offer subscribers “time-shift” capabilities — the ability to pause and rewind live television, as well as an expansive amount of storage to record any program and watch on each subscriber’s own schedule. Shanghai is the largest city of China with a total population of approximately 18 million.
The number of broadband users in Shanghai approached two million at the end of first quarter of 2006. UTStarcom believes these factors provide a solid foundation for the addressable market of IPTV in China, adds the release.
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.
