News Broadcasting
Classic TV show ‘Fraggle Rock’ to make the transition to the big screen
MUMBAI: The Jim Henson Company now confirms what millions of internet fans have speculated.
The company is developing a film about the Fraggles, stars of the 1980’s television show Fraggle Rock. In India the show used to air on Doordarshan.
The untitled film will for the first time take Gobo, Wembley, Mokey, Boober and Red on an adventure outside of Fraggle Rock where they will interact with the strange beings in “outer space” (also known as humans). The treatment is being written by author Ahmet Zappa who will also executive produce the project with Brian Henson and Jason Lust. Jim Henson Company co-CEO Lisa Henson will produce.
Henson said, “Fraggle Rock has remained a favorite project at our Company and has certainly continued to be loved by its many devoted fans. So we are thrilled to begin work on this project. With its message of celebrating diversity and its ambitious goal of promoting world peace, now is the perfect time to embark on a new Fraggle adventure.”
Zappa says, “I’m very excited to be working with The Jim Henson Company on this project. So much of my childhood was spent watching Fraggle Rock. I never missed an episode. I am also really looking forward to using music to tell the story; it played such a central role in the original series and truly helped create the Fraggle Rock that we know and love today.”
Fraggle Rock premiered on HBO in 1983 and over five seasons garnered multiple awards and a global fan following. The show was created by Jim Henson as an international co-production and was adapted for each territory to meet the needs of its audience. By showing cooperation and conflict resolution among the different inhabitants of the Rock (the Fraggles, the Doozers and the Gorgs), the show taught the concepts of mutual respect and peace.
Recently, devoted fans petitioned online for a DVD release of the series. The season one box set exceeded expectations and its incredibly strong consumer response led to the successful season two 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.
