News Broadcasting
DirecTV adds Bangladesh to its ESS cricket package
MUMBAI: A month after News Corp controlled digital television platform DirecTV launched its CricketTicket subscription package targeting South Asian expats in the US, it has added some Bangladeshi spice to its menu.
DirecTV announced on Wednesday that it has acquired exclusive broadcast rights for all international cricket matches to be played in Bangladesh till 2008.
The Bangladesh deal makes the cricket licensing agreements DirecTV has the same as what ESPN Star Sports has in India. DirecTV had already completed licensing agreements with the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB), the New Zealand Cricket Board (NZCB) and the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU), which gives it access to all international cricket being played in those countries over the next four years. CricketTicket, which is the first-ever season-long subscription TV package for international cricket in the US, was launched last month.
As had been reported last month by indiantelevision.com, four Star channels – Star Plus, Star One, Star News and Star Vijay – launched in the US on 2 November on DirecTV.
The cricket matches from Bangladesh will be available to all CricketTicket customers at no extra charge. DirecTV’s CricketTicket package, which runs till March 2005, is available for $199.
As a special promotion valid till 31 December, customers can get the first season of CricketTicket for free with a one-year commitment to any South Asian package, DirecTV customers could also purchase the Indian tour of Bangladesh a la carte for $99.99.
DirecTV Intl VP Aaron McNally said, “We are delighted to add the Bangladesh national team to our roster of cricket nations for which we’ve acquired host match broadcast rights. This is an unprecedented offer for cricket fans and we are excited to begin the broadcast with the Indian tour, which is certain to attract wide viewership among our South Asian customers and cricket enthusiasts throughout the US.”
Last year News Corp had taken a 34 per cent stake in DirecTV through its subsidiary The Fox Entertainment Group.
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.
