News Broadcasting
HDTV conference in the US next month
MUMBAI: DisplaySearch which conducts research into the penetration of flat panel display (FPD) television sets and Insight Media have announced a three day high definition television (HDTV) forum in the US.
The event which will have 17 sessions and over 70 speakers will take place from 24-26 August in Los Angeles.
The forum will have representatives from US TV and cable networks, government agencies, satellite and cable providers, retailers, distributors, TV brands as well as TV Other Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs),
The forum aims at creating broad awareness regarding critical trends in the industry. They include the migration to HDTV worldwide, the roadblocks in the path to rapidly expanding HDTV programming. The event will also examine to what customers are aware of HDTV.
Another topic at the event will revolve around how TV brands position their different TV technologies and how fast the prices of flat panel and microdisplay rear projection will fall
The first session will examine global HDTV policy. There will also be a keynote address by ESPN HD VP strategic business planning and development Bryan Burns. He will talk about the future of HD content and what impedes growth in this area.
On the technological front the seminar will also look at whether Plasma TVs can meet the HDTV challenge or whether Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) sets will take over. One key session will provide an overall outlook on the HDTV market from the TV manufacturers viewpoint.
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.
