News Broadcasting
Sony Pictures Entertainment acquires Grouper for $ 65 million
MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has acquired Grouper, the fast-growing user-generated video site on the internet. The announcement was made by SPE chairman and CEO Michael Lynton.
Grouper.com, which is the second largest independent video community, enables its members to watch, share and create video on the Web. Under the terms of the $65 million deal, the Sausalito-based company will retain its current management, working closely with a team at Sony Pictures.
“Consumers are spending more and more time on sites like Grouper, and as one of the world’s largest creators of entertainment, we want to be where the audiences are. This acquisition demonstrates the breadth of involvement of Sony Corporation in the field of digital online entertainment. Many people in the Grouper community use Sony cameras to create videos and Sony VAIO computers and mobile devices to store and view them. It makes sense to complete the circle by having Grouper be a part of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which itself creates so much content for people around the world,” said Lynton.
“When you pair Grouper’s innovative video sharing platform on the web and the desktop with Sony’s connected devices and copyrighted media you create a dynamic and exciting environment for consumers. We have an opportunity, as part of the Sony family, to bring together user-generated and copyrighted content across platforms and devices for the first time,” said Grouper CEO and co-founder Josh Felser.
Grouper’s primary mission is to give its users the flexibility to take their videos with them across site and platform. Grouper users can browse videos and easily post them to a wide variety of third-party Web sites, such as their personal pages on MySpace, Blogger and Friendster. Grouper’s portability is anchored by its robust peer-to-peer video sharing network, which facilitates downloads of high quality uncut original video shared by its members. Its users can download from Grouper.com to connected mobile devices like the PSP and iPod. Grouper also provides members with easy-to-use video editing tools so that videos can be quickly uploaded from cameras, camcorders and webcams.
Lynton said he is impressed by the experience of Grouper’s management team. “Grouper is not only one of the leaders in a new wave of content development, it is also a major innovator in empowering users to participate in a dynamic on-line community,” he said.
Lynton said the acquisition of Grouper is a strategic initiative in the field of digital entertainment and consistent with Sony Pictures’ vision of making entertainment accessible to consumers whenever, wherever and however they want. No immediate changes are planned for the site. Over time, Lynton said there is potential for development of ad-supported and premium content businesses. “Grouper gives us a strong platform for growth,” Lynton said.
In addition, he noted that there is value in connecting an enormous amount of imaginative content with a studio that is always interested in finding new ideas and talent for the movies, television shows and games it creates for audiences around the world. “A site like Grouper allows people to showcase their creativity to a vast audience. It’s like a virtual, global audition, and a great source of entertainment,” he added.
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.
