News Broadcasting
Warner, Universal hatch home video deal for China, Russia
MUMBAI: Warner Home Video (WHV) and Universal Pictures International (UPI) have agreed to distribute each other’s titles in China and in Russia respectively.
The reciprocal agreement looks to capitalise on both companies’ distribution expertise and is intended to provide a legitimate alternative to pirated product in both markets. CAV Warner Home Entertainment, a joint entertainment distribution venture between Warner Home Video and China Audio Video, will use its continuing relationships with retailers throughout China to distribute Universal home entertainment titles, whilst UPI will distribute WHV titles in Russia through its existing operating company based in Moscow.
The collaboration allows both studios to strengthen and build distribution processes in these new markets and offer consumers in both countries affordable, high quality product as an alternative to inferior illegitimate goods. In the next several months, UPI will release 20 new WHV titles in Russia and will continue to exploit hundreds of WHV catalogue titles already available in Russian.
WHV president Jim Cardwell says, “China and Russia are two expanding economies and we hope by offering consumers high quality, affordable product we can take a bite out of piracy. We are honoured to work with Universal and to help expand legitimate home entertainment markets that will benefit Hollywood, local retailers and movie fans”.
In November, CAV Warner will initially release about 15 Universal films and will continue to release between 20 to 30 new films every few months for the next two to three years. Currently, more than 200 WHV titles are already on shelves at over 1500 retail locations throughout China.
Retail partners in both countries will soon offer their customers Universal titles like Ray, The Interpreter and The 40 Year Old Virgin as well as WHV titles including blockbuster new releases such as Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
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.
