News Broadcasting
Europe, ME, SA offer satellite ops ray of hope
CALIFORNIA: Amidst unfavourable economic conditions and the melt down in the telecommunications industry, the satellite transponder capacity leasing market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa represents a ray of hope, as it continues to experience consistent growth and significant profits.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan Commercial Geostationary Satellite Transponder Markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa – ‘Opportunities for growth in an uncertain world’, reveals that revenues in this industry totaled $3.79 billion in 2002 and are projected to reach $4.88 billion by 2009.
However, satellite operators face numerous challenges that threaten to obstruct their path to greater profitability. Optimistic demand growth projections that led many operators to launch new transponders failed to materialise, leaving them with excess capacity and compelling them to reduce lease rates.
Further compounding this problem is the migration of video broadcasting from analog to digital signals. Increased efficiency allows for more content to be broadcast per transponder.
This cuts into the demand for new capacity. Moreover, the merger of major capacity lessors such as in the direct-to-home television sector is negatively affecting the demand for transponder capacity to relay programming.
Operators must squarely address these issues or face the risk of significant price competition as market participants stoop to any means to get their transponders sold.
While operators must compete with terrestrial networks to increase the use of satellites in fast growing networking applications, they must not lose sight of their biggest revenue generator, namely, video applications. Locking in the key video market is more important for long-term success than overemphasising the networking market.
Frost & Sullivan claims to be a global leader in strategic growth consulting. This ongoing growth opportunity analysis is part of the Satellite Communications Subscription, which also includes market insights on Latin American DTH Satellite Television Services and World Ka-band Satellite Broadband Services.
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.
