News Broadcasting
M-Met to air drama series under license from BVITV
MUMBAI: The viewers across South Africa will be able to enjoy the US drama series including Desperate Housewives, Lost, Life As We Know It, Alias and The Days, through a pay TV.
The agreement between M-Net and Buena Vista International Television (BVITV), as announced by BVITV, vice-president and sales EMEA, Alison Homewood and M-Net director Jan du Plessis, at the ongoing MIPCOM.
The agreement includes some returning series for M-Net – season two of the comedy ‘Hope & Faith’, season three of reality series ‘Extreme Makeover’ and comedy ‘Less Than Perfect’, and season four of quirky medical comedy ‘Scrubs.’
For BVITV, the agreement was negotiated by executive director, strategic markets, Maria Bayman, executive director, strategic markets and sales executive, strategic markets, Kerry Henchy, informs the official release.
Homewood commented: “We’re sure that this agreement will add some new hits to M-Net’s schedule of primetime drama and comedy – shows such as ‘Alias’ and ‘Scrubs’ are proven worldwide successes and new series like ‘Desperate Housewives’ have been creating a buzz in the international TV market since their first previews earlier this year. “
Jan du Plessis added: “M-Net is thrilled to be able to broadcast these top-quality productions in prime-time slots. We are convinced that the new shows will be a winning recipe and that our viewers will be delighted to find some of the old favourites back on the box. This agreement cements M-Net’s position as the channel that brings South African pay television viewers the best and hottest new shows available,” as stated in the official statement.
Lost, Desperate Housewives and Life As We Know It’ have recently begun airing in the US on the ABC Television Network.
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.
