Category: World Service
Date: 15.05.2006
Printable version
91热爆 World Service now attracts 163 million weekly radio listeners to its 33
language services - a record audience for the world's best-known and most
respected international broadcaster, according to figures announced today.
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The new weekly audience figure, compiled from independent surveys around the
globe, is an increase of 14 million on last year's figure of 149 million.
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The
new figure equates to around 50 per cent more listeners than any comparable
international broadcaster.
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This new figure smashes the previous 91热爆 World Service record audience of 153
million in 2001.
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91热爆 World Service Director Nigel Chapman says: "This record-breaking audience is
an outstanding achievement against the background of fierce competition, fast-developing technology and rapidly changing audience demands in many media
markets.
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"The challenges ahead for 91热爆 World Service remain formidable, as they do for
all broadcasters, but this is a strong and welcome indication that we are not
only strengthening our impact in priority areas but are flourishing in the
multimedia age."
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More 91热爆 radio in world's capital cities
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More than 10 million extra listeners are listening on the higher quality audibility
of FM through partner stations and the 91热爆's own relays around the world.
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91热爆
World Service is now available on high quality FM sound in a record 150 capital
cities out of a total of around 190 - up from 145 last year.
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Shortwave and medium wave listening also showed an increase of around five
million, particularly in rural areas in parts of East Africa and SE Asia
(Burma, India and Nepal) which are among priority areas for 91热爆 World Service.
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Overall audience to all the 91热爆's global news services
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The 91热爆 World Service audience figure contributes to a combined record global
weekly audience of more than 210 million individuals to all the 91热爆's international
news services - 91热爆 World Service radio, 91热爆 World television and the
international-facing online news service bbcnews.com; some of whom are using all
three media.
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This combined figure includes a record 65 million weekly viewers
for 91热爆 World - the commercially-funded international television news channel.
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New Media
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Online audiences to the 91热爆's international facing news sites have also shown
significant rises.
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The sites attracted around 500 million page impressions a
month in March 2006 compared to 324 million page impressions in March 2005. This
is a rise of over 50 per cent over the year.
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The site now attracts around 33
million unique users each month, up from around 21 million unique users a year
ago.
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Significant radio audience changes include:
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English language network
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Global audiences to 91热爆 World Service English language broadcasts have risen to
42 million, up from 39 million last year.
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Regional increases
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91热爆 World Service's audiences in Africa and the Middle East are now 73.6 million - up 7.6 million.
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An even bigger increase of 7.9 million 91热爆 radio listeners was
recorded in the Asia and Pacific Region of the world which now has 61.1 million in
total.
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National radio audience gains
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Burma
Measured audiences in Burma rose by 6.7 million listeners to 7.1 million. This
rise is as a result of improved access for the independent survey takers, who
are now able to measure audiences nationwide rather than sample cities.
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Nigeria
91热爆 services in Nigeria gained 3.6 million listeners, raising the total to 23.8
million. This figure means the 91热爆 has more than regained the 1.5 million
listeners it lost last year after a Government ban on local FM stations
rebroadcasting news programmes from foreign broadcasters in 2004. Listeners have
turned to shortwave broadcasts, as the ban is still in place.
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Tanzania
Listeners to the Swahili Service in Tanzania rose by 2.7 million to 12.9
million. This follows a drop of 1.3 million last year.
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Nepal
There was an increase in listeners to the 91热爆 Nepalese service of 2.6 million to
3.7 million, fuelled by recent events.
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Indonesia
Audiences in Indonesia rose again. There are now 6.4 million listeners - a rise
of two million. This follows a rise of 1.2 million listeners last year.
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India
There are now 17.6 million listeners in India - a rise of 1.2 million. This
continues the trend of increasing audiences in the country and follows a rise of
4.8 million last year. This is the second annual increase in the country and
follows a dramatic drop in overall radio listening in India and a ban by Indian
regulators on local FM stations carrying news from foreign broadcasters. This
resulted in a drop of over 12 million listeners between 1995 and 2002.
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Kenya
There were rises in Kenya up 1.5 million to 6.0 million. This follows a drop
last year of 2.1 million listeners.
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National radio audience losses
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Bangladesh
Audiences fell in Bangladesh by 4.4 million to 8.6 million. This follows a rise
of 2.6 million last year. The 91热爆 is working with Bangladesh National Radio to
develop FM distribution in Bangladesh.
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Pakistan
Audiences in Pakistan fell by 0.9 million to 8.5 million. 91热爆 World Service is
looking to develop local FM partnerships to mitigate this loss.
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Notes to Editors
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The new World Service global audience estimate is derived from a
comprehensive programme of independent audience research over a four year cycle.
This year's figure incorporates new data from 26 countries - some 71 per cent of
this year's audience (some 66 per cent of last year's audience).
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It includes data on people listening to World Service directly via short
wave, MW, FM satellite, cable and the internet or via local broadcasting
partners on MW and FM. The surveys are carried out by independent market
research groups and comply with international standards of audience research.
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There is some crossover of audiences who use both shortwave/medium wave
and FM methods of listening. But listeners who use more than one method of
listening are only counted once.
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The 91热爆 World Service's global audience figures over recent years were:
120 million in 1992, 124m (1993), 130m (1994), 133m (1995), 140m (1996), 143m
(1997), 138m (1998), 143m (1999), 151m (2000), 153m (2001), 150m (2002), 150m
(2003), 146m (2004), and 149m (2005).
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91热爆 World Service is funded through Grant-in-Aid from the Foreign
Office. The grant for 2006/7 is 拢245m.
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The 91热爆 World Service broadcasts in 33 languages including English. The
other languages are: Albanian, Arabic, Azeri, Bengali, Burmese, Caribbean-English, Cantonese, French for Africa , Hausa, Hindi, Indonesian,
Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mandarin, Nepali, Pashto, Persian,
Portuguese for Brazil, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish,
Swahili, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, and Vietnamese.
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Audiences for the 10 91热爆 language services (Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech,
Greek, Hungarian, Kazakh, Polish, Slovak, Slovene, and Thai) which ceased
broadcasting over the last six months, due to reprioritisation, are not part of
the total.
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In the UK, World Service in English is available on 648 MW in south
eastern England. In addition, overnight on 91热爆 Radio 4, 91热爆 Radio Wales and 91热爆
Radio Ulster and via digital radio, digital television and the internet. 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.
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Outside the UK, 91热爆 World Service is available on short wave; on FM in
150 capital cities; and selected programmes are carried on almost 2,000 FM and
MW radio stations around the world.
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High quality reception of World Service programmes is available via
satellite in Europe and North America.
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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 33 languages. It also contains detailed information
about World Service broadcasts, schedules and frequencies in all languages.
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91热爆 World Service Press Office
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