News Broadcasting
HSBC chairman Vincent Cheng on CNN ‘Talk Asia’
He came from humble beginnings playing on the street and helping his father sell fruit. Today he is the new chairman of one of the world’s biggest banks and the first Chinese to lead the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Vincent Cheng joins CNN’s TALK ASIA this weekend and tells Lorraine Hahn about his story of success.
When asked if his nationality has added any pressure to his new role, Cheng says: “A little bit because it adds an extra dimension… In terms of work, it doesn’t add any pressure to me personally. But there is a lot of interest because I am the first Chinese chairman. So it has a social dimension to it… I have told myself I can’t fail.”
During the half-hour interview, Cheng recalls a childhood affected by polio and how he took the disease in his stride. He also talks about his young life spent at his father’s fruit-stand. “I helped my father to sell fruit… And then I did my homework just on… a carton box… That’s quite common in Hong Kong those days,” he says.
On the focus of his new job, Cheng says: “The biggest challenge is of course to take the group’s business forward in Asia…, to ensure that number one, you serve the customers’ well; number two, to expand our business, find more business opportunities.”
Cheng also comments on China’s economic development, saying the country “would need to change the regulatory regime and government policies and laws and regulations to accommodate a more flexible, a more market-oriented economy. And, this is not easy.”
Log onto CNN’s dedicated website for TALK ASIA on www.CNN.com/talkasia to find out more information on upcoming guests.
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.
