News Broadcasting
Verizon, CBS reach programming deal on FiOS TV
MUMBAI: Verizon and CBS have reached a deal in which Verizon will carry CBS programming on its new television service.
The companies announced a comprehensive retransmission consent and video-on-demand (VOD) agreement, which includes analog, digital, multicast and HD rights to programming on CBS owned-and-operated television stations; local VOD content from those stations; and CBS Television Network VOD content, including such current popular network series as CSI,NCIS and Survivor.
Verizon will offer the programming on its new fiber-optic TV service FiOS TV, which is now available in parts of seven states of the U.S. All FiOS TV subscribers with a set-top box will receive the CBS Television Network VOD content at no incremental cost, which will also be true for FiOS TV subscribers in CBS owned-and-operated markets with regard to the local VOD content.
“With each subscriber that Verizon’s FiOS TV adds, CBS will directly benefit, and therefore, we look forward to our partnership as Verizon showcases our programming both in our (owned-and-operated) markets and across the country,” CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves said in a statement.
Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg said the deal expands the market for both companies.”For us, it means we can offer our customers the tremendously valuable content provided by the CBS Television Network and local broadcast stations,” Seidenberg said.
CBS locally owned-and-operated stations are in all Verizon TV markets except Washington, D.C.Verizon said its retransmission consent agreement with CBS is its largest such deal. Prior to the deal, Verizon provided programming from the CBS owned-and-operated stations under a special agreement with CBS.
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.
