News Broadcasting
NBC’s Sci Fi channel inks multimedia deal with Virgin Comics
MUMBAI: Sci Fi Channel, an NBC Universal network, is teaming up with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Comics to create a co-branded multimedia partnership called Sci Fi/Virgin Comics.
With five new comic book titles serving as a jumping off point, Sci Fi/Virgin Comics will develop fresh properties that integrate the spirit and vitality of both brands. Delivering innovative, multi-platform projects, original concepts will be considered across all mediums from publishing, film and television to digital and gaming.
The announcement was made today by, Sci Fi Executive Vice President and general manager Dave Howe and Virgin Comics CEO and publisher Sharad Devarajan at New York Comic Con, the season’s pop culture and comic book event.
The first Sci Fi/Virgin titles, distributed by Diamond Comics, can be expected to hit shelves later this year, informs an official release.
“Virgin Comics and I are delighted to collaborate with Sci Fi and the rest of the NBC Universal family,” said Sir Richard Branson, “to create stories that will inspire a new generation of thinkers and dreamers throughout the world.”
“Sci Fi/Virgin Comics marks an important step in our strategy to extend the Sci Fi brand into new cross-media platforms. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Virgin Comics to create exciting new titles, characters and stories that can live beyond the pages of the comic book,” added Howe. “Virgin is the perfect brand to help us connect with the youth audience around the world.”
“With Sci Fi we are changing the face of the comic book industry – seamlessly developing characters and stories for books, television, online and other media,” said Devarajan. “Together we are creating stories as innovative as the ways consumers will get to experience them.”
Utilizing the global creative and synergistic resources that exist both at Sci Fi Channel and Virgin Comics, the partnership will aim to attract some of the biggest names and talent from the worlds of comic books, television and movies. Sci Fi and Virgin Comics will bring together a multimedia, creative editorial board with members representing comic books, television, movies, digital, gaming, licensing and merchandising.
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.
