News Broadcasting
India’s ‘no show’ at Asian Television Awards
SINGAPORE: The television scene in India is exploding but the local channels failed to cut any ice at the recently concluded seventh edition of the Asian Television Awards. The show was attended by over 1200 celebrities.
Indian TV channels like Star TV, Zee TV and Sony drew a blank. The awards were mainly distributed among China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. The Terrestrial Channel of the Year Award went to to SPH MediaWorks’ Channel U (Singapore). The Best Drama Performance by an Actor went to Kou Shih Hsun, for his role in drama series, The Orange Rouged (Public Television Service, Taiwan).
Around 119 programmes and performances from 12 countries were nominated this year. The entries were assessed by 49 judges from 11 countries sitting on seven juries held across the region.
The following are the list of awards distributed:
The Best of Asian Programming
Best Children’s Programme – Fruity Pie, Public Television Service (Taiwan)
Best Original Song (Joint Winners) -Bukit Ho, Swee Media Corporation of Singapore, Channel 8 (Singapore)
Cash is King , SPH MediaWorks Limited, Channel U (Singapore)
Best Comedy Programme or Series- Phua Chu Kang Episode: I Do I , Do Media Corporation of Singapore, Channel 5 (Singapore)
Best Current Affairs Programme -FTV’s Hall of Dissent, Formosa Television (Taiwan)
Best Single Drama or Telemovie – When Camellia Petals Fall , NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
Best Drama Series – Golden Bowl, Nippon Television Network Corporation (Japan)
Best Documentary Programme -Mother, Shanghai TV Station (China)
Best Infotainment Programme – 3R – Respect, Relax, Respond , Red Communications for Astro Ria and TV3 (Malaysia)
Best Entertainment – Special MTV Asia Awards Main Show, MTV Asia LDC (Singapore)
Best Entertainment Programme Asia Session – Travis, MTV Asia LDC (Singapore)
Best News Programme – News Biz Today , CNN International (Hong Kong SAR)
Best Game or Quiz Show – Stop the Clock, Exact Co Ltd for Channel 5 (Thailand)
Best News/Currents Affairs Special News Magazine: – Asian Economy, Japan Television Broadcasts Limited (Hong Kong SAR)
Best Talkshow – You’re OK, I’m OK, SPHMediaWorks Limited, Channel U (Singapore)
Best Youth Programme – Youth Quest “Tian Ya Ren Wo Xing” , SPH MediaWorks Limited, Channel U (Singapore)
Most Innovative Programme – Dreams Come True Television Broadcasts Limited (Hong Kong SAR)
Best Sports Programme – Football Asia, World Sports Television for various broadcasters (Singapore)
Best Music Programme – One Night with Regine , ABS CBN Broadcasting Corporation (Philippines)
Best Natural History or Wildlife Programme -Vampire the Abyss, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
Broadcaster of the Year – SPH MediaWorks
The Best Performances:
Best News Presenter or Anchor – Catherine Yang, Bloomberg Television (Japan)
Best Current Affairs or Infotainment Programme Presenter Niret Alva, Miditech Ltd for BBC World (India)
Best Light Entertainment Presenter/Performer – Donita Rose, MTV Southeast Asia (Singapore)
Best Drama Performance by an Actor – Kou Shih Hsun for The Orange Rouged , Public Television Service (Taiwan)
Best Drama Performance by an Actress Aiza Seguerra for Remembering – “SongBook” , ABS CBN Broadcasting Corporation (Philippines)
Best Comedy Performance by an Actress – Irene Ang for Phua Chu Kang , Media Corporation of Singapore, Channel 5 (Singapore)
Best Comedy Performance by an Actor – Adrian Pang for Ah Girl II , SPH MediaWorks Limited, Channel i (Singapore)
Others
Terrestrial Channel of the Year – Channel U, SPH MediaWorks (Singapore)
Cable & Satellite Channel of the Year – MTV Southeast Asia (Singapore)
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.
