News Broadcasting
Endemol announces good results in US, UK & Italy for Q1
MUMBAI: Television format creator Endemol has announced a sound performance in the first quarter of 2006.
Compared to the first quarter of 2005, Endemol says that it enjoyed a strong increase in business across all genres and most of its markets, especially the US, the UK and Italy. The overall financial outlook for 2006 remains good. Given the lumpy nature of Endemol’s business (project-based), performance in the first quarter cannot be automatically extrapolated to the rest of the year.
Endemol will publish its half year results on 26 July 2006, with more detailed financial information. Endemol says that its top format in terms of turnover, Big Brother, remains strong. The format was on air in more countries than in the same period of last year, returning to screens in Italy and Belgium after an absence in 2005. The success Endemol has enjoyed worldwide with Deal or no Deal during the first quarter, in particular in the UK and the USA, has resulted in an increasing appetite for game shows (a core element of Endemol’s portfolio), which Endemol is capitalising on.
In the US, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition continues to do well. After being successfully introduced in the US market in December 2005, Deal or No Deal again had promising ratings for the second series, which aired on NBC in March. Specific examples of the resurgence of game shows can be seen in the US where newly created formats Show Me The Money and For The Rest of Your Life were sold to Fox and ABC respectively and the rejuvenated version of Endemol’s existing format One versus 100 was sold to NBC – all in the same week.
In the scripted field, Endemol enjoyed a sound performance with several continuing and new soap operas and drama series in its main scripted territories including the Netherlands, Italy and Spain, but also with drama productions in countries such as South Africa and Russia. In April, Endemol increased its stake in the Dutch production company NL Film & TV to 51 per cent, which focuses exclusively on television drama, comedy and feature films.
In line with the company’s continuing search for expansion in New Territories, the first Asian subsidiary, Endemol India, opened for business at the beginning of the year and enjoyed a successful start in the first three months. In addition, Endemol Polska officially kicked off in Poland as a fully independent production company headed by a newly appointed MD.
In the digital media field, next to Participation TV, the success of formats like Deal or no Deal and Big Brother is generating substantial revenues on calls and SMSs. Furthermore, Endemol is exploring new sustainable revenue streams through cooperation with companies such as KPN in the Netherlands and BT in the UK, further exploiting Endemol’s library and developing new specific content for their IPTV concepts. This particular broadband and mobile opportunity for exploitation of content is still in its early days and revenues are currently embryonic.
Endemol CEO Joaquim Agut says, “In the first quarter we have continued to perform strongly across the group. We saw earlier initiated strategic actions taking effect. In addition, several new steps towards the further development and implementation of our strategic priorities were made. We are confident that we will realise the targets given in our financial guidance as provided earlier this year.”
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.
