The BBC World Service’s overall listening figures are down. While it was listened to by an average of 150 million people last year – that was 3 million down on the previous 12 months and 5 million below its audience target. The biggest shortfall was in Asia and the Pacific region, where audience figures fell 11.5 million, mostly a result of a slump in radio listening in India. On the up side over the same period traffic on its website almost doubled to 75 million page impressions a month. Commenting on the figures Mark Byford, director of the World Service, said: "The battle for radio audiences is increasingly ferocious across the world as markets deregulate and listener choice explodes. Rapid technological advances, lifestyle changes and growing competition mean it is imperative for the World Service to have an even stronger understanding of audience needs and market developments."
Jul 19, 2002
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1 min read
World Service figures down
BBC World Service audiences fell by 3 million to around 150 million last year, though website traffic almost doubled, according to director Mark Byford.