News Broadcasting
EchoStar bags rights for World Cup in Americas
COLORADO: EchoStar Communications Corporation has announced that it has acquired exclusive television, radio and internet distribution rights for the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2003 Cricket World Cup for North, Central and South America.
EchoStar claims to have exclusive rights to distribute through sub-licensees in the following territories: the United States, its territories and possessions; Canada; Mexico; all countries of Central and South America, and all Caribbean Nations, including Antigua, Barbadoes, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad, Tobago and the United States Virgin Islands.
EchoStar’s DISH Network will exclusively broadcast the World Cup in the United States. Dish Network is EchoStar’s state-of-the-art direct broadcast satellite TV system that is capable of offering over 500 channels of digital video and CD-quality audio programming, as well as fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant hardware and installation.
In the US, DISH Network customers can purchase the entire Cricket World Cup 2003 package for $299.95. The World Cup games will be available on DISH Network channels 457/471 and 458/472.
Other broadcasters that have bagged telecast rights include Sony’s Max in India, Rupavahini in Sri Lanka, Sky Sports in the United Kingdom, Pakistan TV in Pakistan, SABC in South Africa, BTV in Bangladesh, Sky Sports in New Zealand and Fox Sports in Australia.
Live coverage of the 54 match tournament will be kicked off with a two-hour opening ceremony from Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town South Africa on 8 February and will conclude with a closing ceremony honoring the world champions immediately after the final match from Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on 23 March.
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.
