News Broadcasting
CNN taps into futuristic gadgets with ‘Sparks’
MUMBAI: CNN’s show Spark, hosted by Kristie Lu Stout examines the latest in cutting-edge technology by exploring the use of high-tech digital tagging devices.
Stout kicks off the program with a look at Future Shopping, unraveling the latest trends in Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) that are being used by retailers to radically change the way customers shop. The program profiles Germany’s Metro ‘Extra Future Store’ as one of the first of its kind to tap into this technological advance.
The half-hour program then shifts in Running on Empty and reveals how two Japanese electronics companies compete to perfect the prototype power source for mobile phones. As more and more interactive services are crammed onto our handsets, conventional batteries are finding the extra work too draining. Spark investigates the new energy boost for the mobile generation. Nokia’s mobile phone designer, Frank Nuovo, also gives CNN’s viewers insight into the design strategy of the world’s leading mobile phone maker.
Spark concludes by taking international viewers to The Baja Beach Club in Spain, where an RFID chip implant will allow customers to pay for their drinks by simply waving their arm, and even gain them a VIP entry.
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.
