News Broadcasting
Disney Channel launches in Indonesia
The arrival of the Big Mouse in India may be delayed but it is setting up shop in other parts of the region. AsiaNet-ABC Cable Networks Group today announced plans to launch the Disney Channel in Indonesia beginning this month. The channel will launch on cable via PT Broadband Multimedia’s Kabelvision and on DTH through PT Matahari Lintas Cakrawala’s Indovision Digital. The announcement was made by David Hulbert, president of Walt Disney Television International.
“Asia is an important region for the growth of Disney Channels throughout the world,” an official release quoted Hulbert as saying. “Launching the channel into Indonesia is another major step in expanding our presence throughout the region,” he added.
The agreements were signed in Jakarta in June and the channel will be made available this month on the basic tier of both platforms.
“With this launch, our Disney Channel Asia feed has expanded into six countries in just over two years,” says Jon Niermann, managing director for branded television – Asia Pacific for Walt Disney Television International. “After launching in South Korea in April, we’re very pleased to bring the magic of Disney into more homes in the region with the addition of Indonesia.”
Disney Channel Asia is headed by managing director Raymund Miranda and is now available in Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. Launched in January 2000, it is a multi-language feed with both dubbing and subtitling in Mandarin, a Korean feed with subtitling, and a main feed in English. The Indonesian feed will launch in English with plans to dub into Bahasa Indonesia in the future. From launch, Disney Channel will reach 70 per cent of Pay TV households throughout Indonesia, the release says.
The Asia feed is one of three feeds dedicated to the Asia market, the two others being Taiwan and Australia. There are 15 Disney Channels worldwide now covering 54 countries.
ABC Cable Networks Group is based in Burbank, California and manages The Walt Disney Company’s interest in global television businesses, including the wholly-owned international Disney Channels and the company’s majority interest in the international Fox Kids channels. ABC Cable Networks Group also manages the Disney-branded and Fox Kids-branded kids programming on television platforms around the world.
Walt Disney Television International – Asia Pacific is responsible for the consolidated international free and pay television activities of the Walt Disney Company and ABC Inc. in the region. These activities include program sales (Buena Vista International Television), production and the development and management of Disney Channels and other international broadcasting investments in Asia Pacific.
The Disney Channel is currently available on pay TV in eight Asia-Pacific markets: Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Disney branded programs are broadcast on local free-to-air networks in 12 countries around the region, reaching a total audience of 300 million in Asia-Pacific, the release says.
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.
