News Broadcasting
Star revenues to grow 15 % this fiscal: MPA
MUMBAI: The Star Group is expected to post a 15 per cent year on year revenue growth at $624 million for FY June 2007 with operating profit margins at 24.3 per cent or $151 million, according estimates by Hong Kong-based research firm Media Partners Asia (MPA).
Star’s September quarter was relatively soft (historically soft for the broadcaster in Asia) with revenue up a modest 6 per cent Y/Y to $140 million (MPA estimate) and operating income up 8 per cent to $13 million.
While subscription revenue grew by 6 per cent Y/Y, programming costs declined over the quarter. “This leverage, however, was offset by lower ad revenue at flagship STAR Plus in India, where the decrease in advertising reflected last year’s high base comparison when revenue grew 22 per cent Y/Y due to the successful broadcast of Kaun Banega Crorepati 2,” the MPA report said. Despite maintaining leadership position, Star’s ratings have softened with Zee TV posing a strong threat.
Tata Sky, News Corp.’s 20:80 direct-to-home (DTH) joint venture with the Tatas, has acquired around 180,000 subscribers till October-end, after having launched its services in August. The company says it is on track to add a net one million subscribers per annum.
“The early results have been encouraging,” the report quoted News Corp chief operating officer and president Peter Chernin as having said. “Any additions are sort of immediate additional subsribers for channels and the good news is that they are at least 100 per cent reporting, which is a nice positive phenomenon in India.”
News Corp, parent company of Star, had a sluggish September quarter with operating income at $851 million, down 6 per cent Y/Y, with a strong performance at its cable network and newspaper businesses offset by softness at its TV, movie and digital satellite units. It saw also higher than expected costs at the company’s online properties. The company reported earnings of $0.27 per share, benefiting from a $261 million gain after the sale of Sky Brasil and $136 million from the sale of its 19.9 per cent stake in Chinese commercial broadcaster Phoenix Satellite TV, in which News Corp still holds a 17.6 per cent interest.
The company, however, expects a strong full year in FY 07 with robust growth forecast for Star Group and aggressiv expansion of MySpace into multiple Asian markets, the MPA report said.
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.
