News Broadcasting
Korean broadcaster SBS International gets rights for 2010, 2014 Fifa World Cups
MUMBAI: Football Media Services (FMS), the joint venture between Infront Sports & Media and Dentsu handling the distribution of Asian broadcast rights to the 2007-2014 Fifia events on behalf of soccer’s governing body Fifa has successfully negotiated a broadcast rights agreement with Korean broadcaster SBS International.
The agreement covers the broadcast rights in Korea for all 2007-2014 Fifa events, including all matches of the 2010 and 2014 Fifa World Cups.
SBS International is the international acquisition arm of Seoul Broadcasting System, one of the leading national South Korean television and radio networks. SBS was previously a joint rights holder for the 2002 and 2006 Fifa World Cups along with two other major networks in Korea.
FMS MD TMichael Francombe says, “The agreement with SBS International is a great start for Fifa’s distribution plans in Asia and for Football Media Services. I am confident that SBS will be an excellent and innovative partner for Fifa.
“Working with a major national broadcaster will ensure maximum coverage and audiences for the Fifa World Cups and other Fifa events in this important Asian market.”
The 2010 Fifa World Cup will take place across nine cities in South Africa: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Rustenburg. The final event will consist of 64 matches. The international signal will be produced by Host Broadcast Services (HBS). HBS was also the host broadcaster for the 2002 World Cup Korea/Japan and 2006 Fifa World Cup Germany.
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: 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.
