News Broadcasting
NBC offers entertainment at gas stations
MUMBAI: The media landscape is changing and how! The NBC Universal Television Stations group and VST Media Network are partnering to grab eyeballs at the gas pumps. It will deliver customized local news, weather, sports and entertainment video and headlines to on-pump screens at gas stations on daylight-viewable 17-inch screens with stereo speakers.
The deal will deliver programming to 17 Shell gas stations in Los Angeles, but by year’s end, VST plans to have 500 stations in L.A., San Francisco and San Diego. VST will also add screens at other gas stations across the country in markets with NBC O&O’s.The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Programming is in three-minute bursts, which are activated when pumping begins. That duration was determined to be the average amount of time people spend filling up their gas. “Not to sound too corny, but as you’re filling your tank, we’re filling your mind,” said NBC Universal Television Stations digital media and strategic marketing evp Ric Harris.
The programming, which will be updated twice daily, will come from local newscasts at the NBC stations in each market, and will be coordinated through NBC’s KNTV in San Francisco.
The programming is also a vehicle for 15-second ads, which will run between breaks. State Farm Insurance and Tropicana are on board as initial advertisers. The ads try to entice gas pumpers to enter mini-marts. State Farm, which is advertising its car insurance with an ad that compares the high price of gas with the premiums the company’s competitors charge. “It’s utilizing a car moment to bring up car insurance,” said State Farm assistant vp for advertising Mark Gibson.
According to NBC Universal, each participating gas station averages at least 20,000 pump visits per month
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.
