News Broadcasting
NBC Universal signs deal for telenovela development
MUMBAI: In a significant move, US media conglomerate NBC Universal Television Group has signed a two-year, first-look development deal with Galn Entertainment.
This is for the production of telenovelas and other Spanish-language formats in English across its many networks
In contrast to other similar network arrangements, NBC Universal, Galn Entertainment and Spanish network Telemundo will leverage its existing assets and expertise of the novela production system — the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world — for the Spanish market.
Telemundo will license all its formats, in addition to other acquired formats, to Galn Entertainment to re-develop into English.
NBC Universal Television Group CEO Jeff Zucker says, “This represents a fantastic opportunity to achieve many of our goals at NBCU. With this, we can better integrate our English and Spanish-speaking audiences in a way that no other broadcaster can do. It shows the tremendous promise we first saw when we brought Telemundo into the NBC family.”
Telemundo president Don Browne says, “The deal further highlights the value of GE’s and NBCU’s investment in Spanish-language television. Galn provides the perfect bridge to transport the great development, production and writing talents of the Telemundo team into English language.”
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.
