News Broadcasting
Fortune becomes World Lottery Association member
MUMBAI: The Essar backed Fortune Online Lottery has joined the World Lottery Association (WLA) as a full-fledged member.
The World Lottery Association represents 143 lotteries from 74 countries on all five continents, with combined annual revenues in excess of US$ 103 billion. As a full-fledged member of the WLA, Fortune will now represent India at this global platform for lottery operators across the world, according to an official release.
Fortune is promoted by CAIRS Computer Aided Information Research services (P) Ltd, in association with the Essar Telecom Group. CAIRS has the sole distribution rights for computer lottery organised by the Government of Nagaland. Fortune, claims the release, is backed by latest technology on all fronts – hardware, communications and software from its technology partner Editec – a European based online lottery firm and a leading supplier of on-line computerized wagering systems with worldwide operations.
Says Fortune’s COO Zeev Leshem, “Membership to the WLA is a step towards benchmarking ourselves with the global leaders in lotteries. As a privileged member of the WLA, we would now be able to coordinate with lotteries across the world, sharing information and insights on games as well as lottery operations’. In our efforts to devise better games and entertainment value for our consumers, the WLA will help us gain exposure with best of breed practices thus helping us enhance our product offerings.”
The WLA has been at the forefront in identifying lottery trends across the world. Its forums on lottery related issues such as security and risk management have been well received by members and industry experts across the world. The WLA advertising awards and comprehensive reports on specific markets have set the standards for industry analysis in the lottery domain.
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.
