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Director's Overview
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In last year's BBC World Service Annual Review, I wrote about the challenge
of building on record audience figures at a time when consumer choice is expanding
in many markets and at different speeds. I highlighted the need to spot new
audience demands early and make difficult choices about investments, and to
achieve all this while ensuring that the values of accuracy, impartiality and
independence that shape our journalism continue to shine through in all we
do.
I am glad to report that we have responded very well to the challenges.
2006-2007 was a second successive year in which the BBC's international
news audiences leapt to record levels. The latest research indicates that our
global radio audience has increased by 20 million to 183 million a week, the
highest it has ever been. Add to that the number of international users of
the BBC's online news sites, which has now reached almost 12 million
a week, and a big increase in the viewership of BBC World television, and the
BBC is well on target to reach its ambition of 250 million global news users
each week by 2010. These are remarkable figures at a time when the pace of
change in global media markets is accelerating and the clamour for people's
attention is greater than ever.
There are complex forces at work behind the
headlines, however, and the picture is different region by region. Audiences
overall are going up in some of our biggest markets in Africa and Asia, including
India, Pakistan and Nigeria. This is a significant achievement because these
markets too are highly competitive and such large numbers are always vulnerable
to rapid falls. But English language audiences for radio dropped back in parts
of Africa, contributing to a decline from 42 million to 38 million in the global
English radio total. Official discouragement of partnerships which would enable
us to broadcast English programme material on any scale in Nigeria is a major
obstacle.
In Bangladesh, troubled by political unrest, the weekly audience
figure almost doubled in a year, demonstrating once again how listeners return
to the BBC at times of crisis. In Afghanistan, the first nationwide survey
showed that there were 10 million listeners a week, 60% of the adult population.
SIGNIFICANT EXTRA AUDIENCE
We were able to include new figures from the Democratic Republic of Congo
in our global total, adding a significant extra audience. In the United States,
listening has now reached 5.3 million, another record, showing a niche audience
in robust health in one of the world's most saturated media markets.
The work of our technical teams enables BBC World Service to compete effectively
in some of the world's toughest environments. The strength of our audiences
in Afghanistan would not have been possible without the ability to install
and maintain FM networks there. New FM relays came into operation during the
year in Helmand and Kunar provinces. Five sites are now solar powered to keep
them on the air independently of local supplies. The crucially important transmitter
station on Ascension Island, which serves large parts of Africa, will soon
be the first wind-powered site, saving £0.5 million a year.
"It is clear that a tri-media approach, combining radio, television and online is essential if bbc world service is to compete in the multi-platform digital age."
But
it is a more mixed picture in other regions. The difficulties we can face as
markets develop are apparent in Latin America and parts of Eastern Europe,
such as Romania and Ukraine, where burgeoning choice has led to a decline in
our audiences. In Russia, distribution problems in a difficult political climate
have been a further setback, leading to the loss of FM services in Moscow and
St Petersburg and a decline in listening to under one million. In China, poor
access to BBC news content in what is now a bustling, aggressively competitive
market has resulted in a further loss of audience. The silver lining is the
success of new online partnerships in China, including one deal with a key
national portal. They offer access to BBC educational material and 90% of the
traffic to BBC content in China now comes from these partner deals.
The worldwide
growth in online audiences, led by the BBC's international news site bbcnews.com,
has steadied and it is recognised we need to build this audience further in
the coming years. The spectacular growth rate of the early days of the internet
is much harder to achieve now that most initial adopters of the technology
have found us. As in China, we are building partnerships with major portals
to showcase our work better and increase traffic.
INVESTING FOR THE FUTURE
This brings me to the second objective I identified last year - the need
to identify new audience demands early and make difficult choices about investments.
The world is changing so fast now that we must constantly re-assess our future
plans. We are on track to implement the BBC World Service 2010 strategy but
our ability to deliver it fully must depend on the outcome of this year's
Government Spending Review and its impact on BBC World Service funding.
It
is clear that a tri-media approach, combining radio, television and online,
is essential if BBC World Service is to compete in the multi-platform digital
age. Radio will remain the best way of reaching big audiences in much of Africa
and rural Asia for many years to come. However, in developed markets, more
people now look to television for news. Moreover, where people have access
to broadband internet and mobile devices, text and video services will play
a proportionately bigger role.
Continued investment in technology will be necessary
for us to compete in a world where the ability to find and share information
and content is fundamental. In the most sophisticated markets, the generation
growing up with social networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace takes sharing
video content for granted. We have taken significant steps this year with the
launch of broadband video news in six languages and new sites for downloading
content to mobile devices.
"Our global radio audience has increased by 20 million to 183 million a week, the highest it has ever been."
Our interactive programming already has greater
impact than a year ago. World Have Your Say, Africa Have
Your Say and interactive
programmes in all the language services have now become firmly established
as forums for global debate.
Significant investment has been taking place behind
the scenes to make these developments possible and take BBC World Service forward
into the digital future. Everything from audio and video technology for reporters
in the field to the way programmes are put together and distributed is now
being digitised, giving us the flexibility to deliver programmes in new ways.
The opening of the Production House of the Future at Bush House (a state of
the art digital production space) is a first, showing the way forward for the
whole of the BBC and other media organisations. Investment in production centres
overseas has brought us closer to audiences. More than 30% of our production
staff are now based in the countries to which we broadcast.
In the coming year,
all eyes will be on our new television services to serve crucial audiences
in the Middle East and Iran. Preparations to launch BBC Arabic Television in
the autumn of 2007 are well on track and its staff will be the first part of
BBC World Service to occupy the new Broadcasting House centre that we will
eventually share with all the BBC's domestic news operations. The go
ahead for a Farsi television service, announced in October 2006, was very welcome.
Provided the appropriate funding is forthcoming in the 2007 Spending Review,
it will enable us to build on the tremendous record of BBC Persian radio and
online services, which provide news, information and a forum for debate both
within Iran and between Iran and the rest of the world.
MAINTAINING BBC WORLD SERVICE VALUES
In this far-reaching transformation of our activities, one thing which is
not changing is our commitment to traditional BBC values, starting with the
quality of programmes. The past year has been one of further innovation in
programme making, helping audiences to make sense of a world that is increasingly
globalised and interconnected. Highly topical seasons such as the Iraq and
Iran weeks have drawn a vivid picture of people's lives behind the daily
headlines. Generation Next gave a voice to the under-18s who are often neglected
in the mainstream media. India Rising offered a deep insight into winners and
losers in this booming Asian economy. Business Daily shed new light on long-term
trends taking place behind the world of work.
At the heart of BBC journalistic
values are accuracy, impartiality and independence. Audiences in most markets
see the BBC as a trusted leader, setting standards for others. Our determination
to uphold these principles is undiminished, but the price of doing so is self
evident in a year that saw the abduction of Alan Johnston, the only remaining
full-time correspondent in Gaza from a Western-based news organisation. At
the time of writing, Alan has been missing for over 13 weeks. Our thoughts
and hopes for his safe release are with Alan's family at this difficult time.
Increased violence and intimidation threatened many of our staff in the field.
I cannot praise too highly the bravery of our Arabic, Somali, Persian and Pashto
Service reporters, and many others, in covering the world's trouble
spots, nor our staff, as a whole, for another outstanding year. All our staff
have worked very hard to produce this record-breaking performance and we are
all very proud of their achievements in the BBC World Service's 75th
year.
 
Nigel Chapman
Director
BBC World Service
June 2007
BBC - Many
voices, one world
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