News Broadcasting
NDS opens testing centre in Korea
HONG KONG: News Corp technology arm NDS today announced the opening of its set-top box (STB) testing and integration laboratory in Seoul, South Korea.
The lab will support NDS’s agreements with many leading Korean set-top box manufacturing companies, providing them with the ability to test and integrate NDS technology into their products in Seoul. The center has been recognized as a significant boost for the rapidly expanding pay-TV market in Korea, according to a company release.
The Korean STB manufacturers who have immediately started integration projects at the center include DMT, emTech, Global Tech, HDT, Humax, LGE, Samsung and Seodu Inchip.
NDS opened the lab in Korea because it is home to the largest number of set-top box manufacturers in the world, and Korea also has a rapidly growing domestic pay-TV market. The laboratory also functions beyond its domestic requirements, and provides support for the entire Asia Pacific region including, China, Taiwan, India, Australia and New Zealand, the release says.
Among the broadcasters and network operators the Asia Pacific region that have opted for NDS products are SkyLife in South Korea, CCTV and Sichuan Provincial Network in China, and China Network Systems in Taiwan.
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.
