News Broadcasting
Media Development Authority of Singapore unveils two-tier license framework for IPTV
MUMBAI: The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) has rolled out a new two-tier license framework for Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) that aims to further facilitate the growth of IPTV services in Singapore, to tangible benefits for the industry and consumers.
“We took into consideration the developments in technology in a rapidly evolving media landscape and local industry feedback when factoring flexibility in this license framework to address the needs of niche IPTV players vis-Ã -vis mass market IPTV players while ensuring that consumer interests are not compromised,” explained MDA director media policy Ling Pek Ling.
“This will enable the entry of more industry players looking to provide a wide range of IPTV services to consumers including those who are currently not served or not well served by existing broadcasters. At the same time, consumers can look forward to richer and diversified content.”
In line with the new license framework, MDA has issued SingNet Pet Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications Limited, a Nationwide subscription TV service license to roll out commercial IPTV services.
According to an official release, the tiered IPTV license framework offers service providers two types of licenses:
– Nationwide subscription TV License: Players providing services that have wide reach (over 100,000 subscribers) and impact. They will be awarded a Nationwide License, similar to that for a mass market pay TV operator.
– Niche Subscription TV License: This facilitates the entry of new niche players offering IPTV services which have limited reach (100,000 subscribers or less) and impact. The licensee would be subject to a lighter license framework. For example, niche licensees will not be required to carry the local free-to-air channels.
Where the subscriber base exceeds 100,000 subscribers, the following secondary criteria will be used to determine if the operator can still qualify as a Niche player to allow those targeting niche market segments like the expatriate community and hotels to grow their business and improve their business case:
– Location: whether the service is offered chiefly to specific non-residential locations in Singapore.
– Language: whether there is a high percentage of foreign language content.
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.
