News Broadcasting
Phillip Hughes funeral to take place on 3 December
MUMBAI: The Hughes family has confirmed funeral arrangements for their son Phillip. The funeral will take place at 2 pm on 3 December in the Hughes family’s home town of Macksville in northern New South Wales.
It will be held in the sports hall of Macksville High School where Phillip was educated. Given the limited capacity in the hall, overflow areas will be made available for guests to watch the service via vision screens set up on the school’s two ovals.
The service will be broadcast live by the Nine Network with provisions made for all other television networks. ABC Local Radio and the Fairfax Radio Network will also broadcast the service live around the country. It will also be streamed live on Cricket Australia’s website and app.
Qantas has scheduled two additional B737 services between Sydney and Coffs Harbour on Wednesday to assist people wishing to attend the funeral. Qantas has provided these services purely on a cost recovery basis. Additional services may be scheduled in coming days.
CA chief executive James Sutherland said, “We are grateful to the Australian community for the overwhelming show of support it has extended to the Hughes family in recent days. The offers of assistance for Wednesday’s service have been remarkable.”
“While we know that people from all around the nation want to pay their respects to Phillip, there will only be limited capacity in Macksville, so the work of our broadcasters will help ensure people around the country can follow the service on TV, radio and online.” he added.
Cricket Australia has asked that the privacy of the Hughes family and friends continue to be respected in the lead up to Wednesday’s funeral. The SCG Trust and Adelaide Oval will also show Phillip’s funeral service live on their big screens.
Cricket Australia has also announced that the first Commonwealth Bank Test match between Australia and India will not start on Thursday 4 December as scheduled. Details around the Test match are still to be determined.
Sutherland informed, “We appreciate the incredible understanding and support of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. It has been nothing short of outstanding during these difficult times. We just ask the cricket community for some patience as we work through a range of scenarios in full consultation with the players, the Indian Board, the ICC and our broadcasters.”
Ticket sales for the Test have been suspended. Fans have been asked to hold onto their tickets until further notice.
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: 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.
