News Broadcasting
IBC’s deal with Asia Ent Group for series on Hollywood
MUMBAI: International Broadcast Communication (IBC) has concluded a distribution agreement with Asia Entertainment Group for the show Cinenews.
This is an insider’s guide to filmmaking and filmmakers, and includes movie news geared toward film lovers worldwide.
In China, the Asia Entertainment Group will have access to all the segments in the show. It will use the material to produce a daily magazine show First Touch with Movie & TV. This is a co-production venture with the Shanghai Media Group and the China Film Group.
IBC president Jon Helmrich was quoted in a company release saying, “China is an important market for us and we look to conclude similar programming agreements with our other broadcast partners in this region of the world. As the market continues to mature, there’s more of a demand for Western style programming. We have the ideal catalogue to meet this growing demand.”
Helmrich adds that Australia’s Foxtel and New Zealand’s Sky TV recently renewed agreements to air the show in their markets. Cinenews features interviews with the biggest stars in front of and behind the camera. The series also explores the past, present and future of film with Hollywood’s top executives and behind-the-scenes experts.
IBC focusses on global programming distribution and channel development. It represents Entertainment News Service (ENS), The Tennis Channel, Chum Television International, KCW Productions and other companies.
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.
