News Broadcasting
Universal launches legal movie download service
MUMBAI: Universal Pictures Australia and ReelTime Media have launched the major movie download-to-own service that includes secure burn technology.
It is also the first major movie download service in Australia and New Zealand, asserts an official release.
From 29 November , consumers with high speed broadband connections can download Universal movies and content via a unique three-copy secure burn download-to-own (DTO) model. Movies will be made available in line with retail DVD sales via www.reeltime.tv.
By logging onto reeltime.tv consumers access two windows media files that are downloadable to PC, laptop and portable device (compatible with Windows Play4Sure technology), as well as a third digital file that allows the movie to be securely and legitimately burned to DVD with full DVD functions, adds the release.
The initial offers include 35 Universal titles, headed up by Miami Vice, which will be available on the DVD retail release date. New titles will be added on DVD retail release dates. Back catalogue titles already available include The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Break Up, The Bourne Supremacy, King Kong, The 40 Year Old Virgin and Curious George.
Downloads will be priced from (Aus) $15, with new release titles costing no more than (Aus) $34.
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.
