Category: World
Service
Date: 21.06.2004
Printable version
'Most trusted' 91热爆 World
Service reaps benefit of investment in improved FM audibility and online
as short wave declines
听
91热爆 World Service remains the world's leading international
radio broadcaster with a weekly global audience estimate of 146 million,
according to new audience figures released today (Monday 21 June).
This equates to at least 50 per cent more listeners
than any comparable international radio broadcaster.
Independent surveys in top markets also showed that
the 91热爆 World Service is the most trusted and objective international
broadcaster when compared to its main radio competitors in each market.
The new global audience estimate indicates a drop of
4 million radio listeners compared to 2003's global audience estimate
of 150 million.
This figure takes account of a significant drop in short
wave radio listening year-on-year that has been partially offset by
a big rise in listening via the higher quality audibility of FM.
91热爆 World Service is now available on FM in 139 capital
cities - around 72 per cent of the world's total.
Moreover 91热爆 World Service also extended its reach with
rapid growth in online usage, particularly among younger audiences.
The sites attracted 279 million monthly page impressions
in March 2004, this equates to over 16 million unique users a month.
This is a rise equivalent to eight million new monthly users of the
91热爆's international news sites during the 13 months between February
2003 and March 2004.
"Continuing investment is enabling 91热爆 World Service
to maintain its transformation from a short wave broadcaster to a modern
multi-media organisation which reaches out to new audiences," says
91热爆 World Service's Acting Director Nigel Chapman.
"The 91热爆 World Service online
sites saw significant increases in traffic.
"Also, the establishment
of many more partnerships with FM radio stations around the world to
ensure local distribution in high quality sound has brought considerable
success.
"But short wave listening is in long term decline
as audiences demand better audibility. It is sometimes difficult to
find suitable FM partners in some countries or to overcome regulatory
obstacles, like bans on international news broadcasting on local FMs,
in others," he says.
"Taken as a whole, the use
of the 91热爆 World Service - both on radio and online - remains broadly
constant.
"We are determined to accelerate our investment
in high quality programmes and press even harder to find more effective
means of distribution to combat the effect of short wave decline,"
he says.
International new media
The international impact of the World Service and Global
News Division's websites grew at a rapid rate.
Monthly page impressions rose from 228 million in March
2003 - a high figure due to the Iraq war - to a record 279 million a
year later.
It equates to over 16 million individual monthly users,
many of them young people who are not attracted to short wave listening.
It also represents a doubling of unique users from February
2003 when the figure stood at 8.5 million monthly users.
91热爆 Global reputation - trust
and objectivity
A separate group of surveys of 16 selected markets around
the world including Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia and
America reveals that overall, 91热爆 World Service is the most trusted
and objective international broadcaster compared to its main competitors
in each market.
Other highlights:
In the Afghanistan capital Kabul, 91热爆 World Service enjoys a 60 per
cent weekly reach.
In Iraq, the launch of FM broadcasts in Baghdad, Basra and other major
cities helped to secure a weekly audience of 1.8 million.
A more recent survey earlier this year provisionally
indicates an increased audience of 3.3 million in the country.
It also shows that one in four listen to the 91热爆 World
Service in Baghdad.
The global audience to English language broadcasts has remained at 45
million.
Nearly half of the total audience comes from Africa and the Middle East;
audiences across both regions increased by 6.8 million to 68.5 million.
91热爆 World Service has extended or maintained its reach in a number of
key markets.
In Tanzania it is well in excess of 60% of the population;
in Nigeria and Kenya more than 30%; and in Pakistan and Bangladesh more
than 12%.
To put that into context, 91热爆 Radio 2, the most popular
station in the UK, reaches 27% of the UK population.
Audiences in the USA increased from 3.9 million to a record 4.7 million
in the world's most developed media market.
One in five opinion formers in New York and Washington listen each week
while the figure in Boston is even higher at nearly one in three.
In the UK, 1.3 million are regular listeners to 91热爆 World Service programmes,
which are now available in a range of digital and cable services.
In Ghana, the 91热爆 is the country's leading station and in Tanzania,
six out of 10 people are regular listeners.
There were also significant gains in Uganda, Egypt, Bolivia and Turkey.
There were significant losses in Western Europe, Saudi
Arabia, India, Bangladesh and Russia.
Notes to Editors
The new World Service global audience estimate is derived
from a comprehensive programme of independent audience research - the
largest ever commissioned by the World Service - and incorporates new
data from 42 countries.
It includes data on people listening to World Service
directly via short wave, medium wave and FM or via local broadcasting
partners on medium wave and FM.
The surveys are carried out by independent market research
groups and comply with international standards of audience research.
The 91热爆 World Service's global audience figures over
the last decade were 120 million in 1992, 124 million (1993), 130 million
(1994), 133 million (1995), 140 million (1996), 143 million (1997),
138 million (1998), 143 million (1999), 151 million (2000), 153 million
(2001), 150 million (2002), and 150 million (2003).
91热爆 World Service is funded through Grant-in-Aid from
the Foreign Office. The grant for 2003/4 is 拢220 million.
The 91热爆 World Service broadcasts in 43 languages including
English.
The other languages are: Albanian, Arabic, Azeri, Bengali,
Bulgarian, Burmese, Caribbean-English, Cantonese, Croatian, Czech, French,
Greek, Hausa, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Kazakh, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi,
Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mandarin, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese,
Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovene, Somali, Spanish,
Swahili, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, and Vietnamese.
In the UK, World Service in English is available on
648 MW in south east England. In addition, overnight on 91热爆 Radio 4,
91热爆 Radio Wales and 91热爆 Ulster and via digital radio, digital satellite
and online.
The English Network can be heard on the 91热爆's digital
multiplex in the UK, Freeview digital channel 80 or in Europe on the
Astra satellite, channel 865.
91热爆 World Service Extra - a new radio service broadcasting
in the key languages of Afghanistan and the surrounding region - is
available on digital satellite channel 902.
Outside the UK, 91热爆 World Service is available on short
wave, on FM in 139 capital cities and selected programmes are carried
on almost 2,000 FM and medium wave radio stations around the world.
High quality reception of World Service programmes is
available via satellite in Europe and North America.
bbc.co.uk/worldservice contains extensive, interactive
news services available in English, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian,
Portuguese for Brazil, Russian, Spanish and Urdu with audiostreaming
available in 42 languages.
It also contains detailed information about World Service
broadcasts, schedules and frequencies in all languages.
