News Broadcasting
Kelly Clarkson to co-host MTV Asia Awards
MUMBAI: MTV Asia Pacific has announced that Kelly Clarkson and Wang Leehom will host the fifth annual MTV Asia Awards 2006 in Bangkok on 6 May. Clarkson was the winner of the first season of American Idol in the US.
Clarksons debut album Thankful was released in 2003, Her new album Breakaway has sold over 8.5 million copies worldwide. It spawned four number one singles Breakaway, Since U Been Gone, Behind These Hazel Eyes and Because of You. Since U Been Gone brought her two Moon Men at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video and Best Pop Video. Earlier this year, she won two Grammy Awards.
Asian star Leehom conceptualises ‘chinked-out’ music. This combines traditional Chinese tunes with pop and hip-hop music to form a new style of music.
The MTV Asia Awards 2006 will be available to over 400 million households via 43 channels as well as through syndication worldwide. Updates on the MTV Asia Awards 2006 can be found at www.mtvasiaawards.com.
Fans can also access information on their mobile phones by keying in maawap.com to follow the latest news on the upcoming awards, vote for their favourite artists and stand to win tickets to attend the show live. The Wap site will also feature content related to the awards show such as wallpapers and screensavers that are available for downloads.
Sponsors for the MTV Asia Awards 2006 are Haier Electrical Appliances, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited with Siam Paragon, World Class Shopping Phenomenon. The local sponsors include IM3 and Gery Saluut Cokluut in Indonesia and 5425 in Korea. Official Hair Partner: Toni & Guy. The official make-up partner is M.A.C. The official hotel is Millennium Hilton in Bangkok.
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.
