News Broadcasting
NBC, YouTube in strategic partnership
MUMBAI: US broadcaster NBC and online video destination YouTube have announced a strategic partnership that will combine NBC’s programming with YouTube’s vast audience to enhance the entertainment experience on YouTube while engaging viewers in new ways to promote NBC’s Fall program lineup and other preferred shows over the next year.
The agreement also includes an integrated, cross-promotional advertising relationship on the YouTube service and significant on-air promotion provided by NBC.
NBC will create an official NBC Channel on YouTube to house its Fall Preview area with exclusive clips to promote NBC’s The Office. In addition, over the next year, NBC will upload several video presentations and longform promos per week to the NBC Channel on YouTube from primetime and late-night programs like Saturday Night Live, The Office, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. YouTube will also promote NBC’s videos throughout the site.
NBC Universal Television Group chief marketing officer John Miller says, “The YouTube and NBC partnership symbolises what can happen when traditional media companies and new media companies find common ground. YouTube is the perfect online media partner to promote NBC’s marquee entertainment to their audience and explore new and creative ways to harness the power of viral video in a manner that respects copyrights. We applaud YouTube for their continued willingness to work with us to remove any unauthorised NBC content and protect our copyrighted material. We are thrilled to be partnering with this forward-thinking company.”
YouTube co-founder and CEO Chad Hurley says, “We are delighted to work with NBC on an official basis. Bringing more entertaining and exclusive content to YouTube helps further our goal of providing the best video entertainment experience on the Internet. This partnership provides greater visibility and access to both NBC and YouTube’s audiences, providing both companies with new outlets for growth and opportunity.”
Additionally, NBC will launch a contest for its comedy The Office where people can submit their own creative 20-second promotional videos to NBC’s YouTube Group (www.youtube.com/theoffice). NBC will publicise the campaign on air regularly during the first three weeks of the contest, encouraging YouTube users to enter. User-generated videos must be compelling and entertaining and create interest for potential viewers to watch “The Office.” Examples can be seen in the NBC YouTube Group.
The contest runs till 21 July 2006. The winning video will air within the network broadcast of The Office during August. NBC will also offer a ‘how-to’ video featuring writer-producer Bill Lowery, who normally writes and produces all the network’s promos for The Office.
Miller adds, “We are excited about customising the NBC channel and sharing with our subscribers all the entertaining promotional content we are offering to encourage them to watch our Fall line-up and other programmes. With the contest, we want to have some fun and allow an artistic avenue for fans of The Office. We know they have a lot of great ideas that deserve to be shared and we can’t wait to see what they upload to YouTube.”
People now watch more than 70 million videos per day on YouTube, and it is the 17th most trafficked Web site in the world.
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.
