The BBC is responding to listeners’ demand for better radio reception by expanding its medium wave transmissions to India. BBC World Service programmes in Hindi and English will now be available to listeners in India on 576 KHz medium wave, daily from 10.00pm to 11.30pm Indian Standard Time (IST). The transmissions will cover North West Bihar and a large area of Uttar Pradesh. Head of BBC Hindi, Achala Sharma welcomed the launch of an additional medium wave frequency for the late evening Hindi programme Aajkal broadcast daily from 10.30pm to 11.00pm IST.
According to new audience figures released on 21 June, BBC World Service remains the world’s leading international radio broadcaster with a weekly global audience estimate of 146 million. Independent surveys in top markets also showed that the BBC 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. BBC World Service is now available on FM in 139 capital cities around 72 per cent of the world’s total.
Moreover BBC 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 BBC’s international news sites during the 13 months between February 2003 and March 2004.