News Broadcasting
Stage set for launch of Thaicom 5, Satmex 6 satellites
MUMBAI: It is all systems go for the latest Ariane 5 mission carrying the Satmex 6 and Thaicom 5 satellites.
Mission control in Kourou, French Guiana, has set the launch window for the Ariane 5 ECA and its two satellites early on Sunday, 28 May from 02:09 am to 02:54 am (Indian Standard Time).
The rocket was cleared for launch following the successful completion of systems checks, after which Arianespace decided to start the final countdown for its mission.
With the Thaicom 5 and Satmex 6 satellites on board, the Ariane 5 flight carries a combined payload weight totalling nearly 8,200 kg for its mission to geostationary transfer orbit.
Thaicom 5 carries a mixed payload of 14 Ku-band transponders and 25 C-band transponders will be located at an orbital position of 78.5 degrees east longitude.
As the name suggests, Satmex 6 will have Mexico and North America under its footprint.
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.
