News Broadcasting
Hallmark acquires blockbusters from Disney for Latin American markets
Hallmark has acquired 18 major motion pictures for its Latin American markets from Walt Disney Television International – Latin America (WDTVI-LA).
The package boasts prominent titles including the Academy Award-winning Roberto Begnini film Life is Beautiful, which won in the Best Actor, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Dramatic Score categories; The Horse Whisperer, directed by Robert Redford and starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Redford and Sam Neill; the critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated Brazilian film Central Station; and Enemy of the State, with Will Smith, Gene Hackman and Jon Voight.
Also included in the agreement are the comedy Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, featuring Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow; and the drama Mrs Brown, starring Dame Judi Dench.
This is the second major feature film package Hallmark has acquired from WDTVI-LA for Latin America. Last year, the two companies signed an agreement for movies including The Color of Money,Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Good Morning Vietnam, Pretty Woman and Medicine Man, among others.
The Hallmark Channel is currently available in 11 million homes throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, claims the company.
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.
