News Broadcasting
Iconic series Blue Planet II set for Indian TV premiere on Sony BBC Earth after a successful theatrical run
MUMBAI: All eyes on TV as India’s #1 factual entertainment channel, Sony BBC Earth, premieres the world-renowned, path breaking and breath-taking series Blue Planet II for the Indian audience on June 25th at 9 pm.
Given the spectacular prowess of its content, Sony BBC Earth released the first two episodes of the legendary series in theatres exclusively with PVR cinemas across 22 cities on 18th May 2018 and became the talk of the town with the kind of response and support it received. The show which is now ready for a television premiere has attracted marquee advertisers including Indian Oil as the Presenting Sponsor and Nivea, Too Yumm, Aquaguard and Abbott as Associate Sponsors.
PVR, which is the exclusive multiplex partner for Blue Planet II, will be running the show promo across 32 theatres in 9 cities – Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad for 2 weeks to promote the Indian television premiere. Additionally, Mad Over Donuts, India’s premium and most loved Donut brand, is the on-ground Partner and has launched a special ‘Blue Planet II themed’ menu comprising customized donuts and a beverage, which will be available across 55 outlets in India.
Narrated by the godfather of natural history Sir David Attenborough, Blue Planet II tells unique, untold stories of the ocean’s most astonishing creatures with a promise to make viewers feel alive not just with the visuals but also with the music that is composed by award-winning composer, Hans Zimmer. Shot over 1406 days with 125 expeditions across 39 countries, the series was filmed in depths as far as 8km across 4,000 dives with more than 6,000 hours of underwater footage!
For the ones who saw it in theatres, loved it, raved about it and want more of it, can tune-in to their TV sets to catch all the 7 episodes. For the ones who missed out watching it on the big screen, here’s an opportunity to catch the much talked about, unmissable series from June 25 at 9PM on Sony BBC Earth.
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.
