News Broadcasting
FCC clears Comcast buyout of AT&T Broadband
MUMBAI: In a 3-1 vote (the dissenting vote coming from the lone Democrat on the panel, Michael Copps), the US Federal Communications Commission today cleared the way for the $30.2 billion buyout of AT&T Broadband by rival Comcast Corp.
The merger reportedly creates a pay TV giant with over 27 million subscribers.
The US Justice Department has also approved the deal that will create a new company called AT&T Comcast Corp.
The approval for the merger has not been without its critics though. Consumer groups have lambasted the seeming double standards shown by the FCC in approving the Comcast deal after rejecting EchoStar Communications Corp.’s proposed acquisition of DirecTV. Many consumer advocates had backed the satellite-television merger, which they said would create a strong national competitor to the cable monopolies.
The FCC’s only major condition for approval has been the stipulation that the new company AT&T Comcast Corp divest entirely its 25 per cent stake in Time Warner Entertainment. Earlier this year, AOL Time Warner said it would effectively buy AT&T’s stake in the partnership for around $9 billion in cash and securities. That deal will give AOL Time Warner full ownership of the Warner Bros. film studio and Home Box Office, along with most of Time Warner Cable.
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.
