News Broadcasting
Formula One to carry on without hiccups on Star Sports
Speculation that the broadcast of Formula 1 racing in Asia on Star Sports was in question can now be laid to rest with the sportscaster’s assurance that coverage will continue till the end of the season.
The speculation had been fuelled due to reports of financial difficulties faced by the distributor of the programming in Asia.
ESPN STAR Sports Managing Director, Rik Dovey says there will be no break in telecast even in China and that the channel has secured rights to the event till 2005. One of the markets affected by the failed F1 broadcast deals is China, according to an ESPN Star Sports (ESS)commissioned survey, wherein F1 was ranked the fourth most popular television sport particularly with Beijing males. Overall, during the last season of the F1, viewership of the races on STAR Sports saw a 13 per cent rise in North and Southeast Asia over the previous season, says a company release.
F1 action will continue to be broadcast live each fortnight on STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Taiwan and STAR Sports Southeast Asia, the release says. Preview show RaceDay starts off STAR Sports’ coverage with a look at the race ahead, predictions, scenarios and past performances and how those are likely to develop in the day’s race. This is followed by live broadcast of the race before Chequered Flag gets airtime for a recap including highlights, analysis, rankings and results, the post-race press conference and the awarding ceremony.
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.
