News Broadcasting
PanAmSat Q2 results boosted by football world cup coverage
MUMBAI:PanAmSat, the global video and data broadcasting services provider has reported revenues of $209.2 million for the second quarter of 2002, in financial results declared last week.
The slight increase in revenues over corresponding figures last year (total revenues for Q2 2002 were $209.2 million, compared to revenues of $208.2 million for Q2 2001) was facilitated by the company’s world cup soccer coverage, claims PanAmSat. The successful completion of the company’s largest single event ever for broadcast services, consisting of more than 23,000 hours of 2002 FIFA World Cup coverage to over 24 countries around the globe, was concluded this quarter.
The company has also declared EBITDA of $150.8 million, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $61.0 million and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.13 during the quarter ended June 30, 2002. The companys EBITDA margin was 72 per cent of revenues for Q2 2002, a seven per centage point increase over the same period last year, says the company.
Other business highlights of PanAmSat’s Q2 2002 results include:
# The culmination of the companys $2.0 billion, 30-month, seven-satellite modernisation programme with the successful launch of the Galaxy IIIC satellite on 15 June, giving PanAmSat the youngest, most modern fleet in the FSS industry.
# Quarterly EBITDA increased $16.3 million or 12 per cent as compared to the same period in 2001, despite relatively flat revenues for PanAmSat and the satellite industry as a whole.
PanAmSat president and CEO Joseph R. Wright says the company began to reduce its cost base relative to the revenues realistically expected for this year after last summer’s performance. “Our operating costs are now over 20 per cent below this time last year. We also refocused our company away from the expensive development of new products for the Internet and back to completing our seven satellite fleet modernization program to create the youngest, most reliable FSS operation in the industry. ”
The company expects total revenues for the third quarter of 2002 to be in the range of $190 million to $200 million, with no new sales or sales-type leases.
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.
