News Broadcasting
Sky’s chief financial officer Stewart calls it a day
MUMBAI: Sky’s chief financial officer, Martin Stewart, has announced plans to quit his position at Sky “to pursue other interests.”
Stewart said, “I have been privileged to work at Sky in a uniquely fascinating phase of its development during which it has evolved from an analogue product to the UK’s leading digital platform with over seven million customers. After eight years of service to BSkyB, it is now the right time for me to pursue new opportunities.” He will leave the company in August.
Stewart was one of the candidates competing to be the company’s CEO after Tony Ball resigned last year. The 40 year old Stewart was the finance director since 1998, before which he was a manager in the company’s finance division. Along with Ball he oversaw the successful strategy of switching all Sky’s customers to its digital service and giving away the set-top decoder boxes that subscribers need. Under them, the company reached its target of 7 millions customers and they saw off the challenge from ITV Digital.
Sky’s chief executive James Murdoch said, “Martin has played an enormous role in the success of Sky and has been instrumental in the Company’s transition from analogue to digital. He will be leaving the company in a superlative position thanks in no small part to his contribution across the operations and strategy of the Group. On behalf of the management and the Board, I wish him every success in the future and thank him for his committment and personal contribution to the success of the business.”
Reports further indicate that Stewart made several million pounds during his tenure.
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.
