News Broadcasting
NBC to rope in ‘Home Alone’ star Macaulay Culkin for a sitcom
MUMBAI: It’s not just a phenomenon on the Indian shores, even in the Hollywood actors cave in to the Television reach. While Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are producing a sitcom, Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin has signed a deal with NBC to develop several projects, including a possible sitcom in fall 2004.
According to the Variety Magazine report, Culkin is in talks with Conan O’Brien, The Late Night host, for a joint venture.
According to the media reports, the NBC spokesman Kevin Reilly offered that they aren’t planning a conventional show for Culkin; they are working on something that is a little offbeat and something surprising.
This isn’t the first time that Culkin will be starring in television show; he has been on NBC’s Will & Grace as a guest spot last season. Although he started off his career as a child actor, after the initial spark of brilliance, he has not been able to make a mark as an adult actor, although he always has had uncanny instincts as an actor. The media reports that NBC decided to strike a deal because they were sure about his skills as he did a great turn on Will & Grace. Unlike most child stars, he was able to figure out how to translate that talent to adulthood.
Beside the forthcoming tele ventures, Culkin had starred in an independent film Party Monster, early this year. He also appeared onstage in Richard Nelson’s Madame Melville, starring with Irene Jacob in London and Joely Richardson on Broadway, and will appear in United Artists’ upcoming Saved opposite Jena Malone and Mandy Moore.
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.
