News Broadcasting
UK rights for ‘Lost’ move from Channel 4 to Sky
MUMBAI: New seasons of the show Lost will be seen exclusively on Sky One in the UK.
An agreement has been done between BSkyB and Buena Vista International Television (BVITV). Sky One has secured deals for seasons three and four of the show which airs in India on Star Movies. With this agreement, Sky will also make the series available to viewers on its broadband and mobile platforms.
The rights were earlier with Channel 4 which has aired the first two seasons. Sky One, Two and Three director of programming Richard Woolfe says, “We’re absolutely thrilled to bring Lost to Sky One. The series has defined TV drama over the last two years and has been the envy of every network. Today’s audiences demand more quality and flexibility than ever before.
“So we are intending to use various digital media platforms to make Lost available to our customers when they want and how they want … ensuring that they never miss the mysterious goings on of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. This outstanding series will bring even more entertainment to Sky customers and demonstrate our strengths in multi-platform content and innovation.”
BVITV executive VP, MD Europe, Middle East and Africa Tom Toumazis says, “We’re delighted to be partnering with Sky to launch much-anticipated new seasons of the globally successful US series in the UK. We are confident that Sky will build upon the established success of Lost across TV and digital media platforms, bringing the series to viewers in flexible ways, ideally suited to its watercooler, must-see status.”
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.
