BBC's response to global news events drives audience growth
The BBC's coverage of international conflicts, crises and elections has boosted its international audience year-on-year to reach 418m people on average every week. The total BBC audience, including content made and distributed by BBC Studios, grew by 3m to 453m.
Audiences came to BBC News for the latest news and developments as elections, global conflicts and political unrest dominated the past year. The majority of the BBC's international audience came to the BBC World Service (World Service English, World Service Languages) with content reaching 313m people on average every week.
In the Middle East, BBC News Arabic grew its weekly audience reach to 39.5m – up nearly 13% - with growth across Arabic TV and digital programming as well as 1.2m listeners tuning into the Gaza and Syrian lifeline radio services. The fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Israel-Gaza conflict both contributed to significant boosts in audiences seeking trusted news and information.
BBC News Persian saw audiences rise a staggering 38% to 24m as Persian-speakers in Iran and around the world sought out the latest news amid unrest in the region. Despite the challenges of reaching audiences across Iran, the service's TV channel – the largest international news channel in Iran – is viewed by a record audience of 14m. The BBC now reaches one in four people in Iran every week.
In the United States, the November election and subsequent news around President Trump saw spikes in the number of people coming to BBC News. Audiences increased on digital platforms with the country accounting for 55% of growth on BBC.com
With BBC World Service language services BBC News Brasil and BBC News Mundo also both experiencing audience boosts, the BBC now reaches 83m people across the Americas every week.
Other services which saw a spike in audiences include BBC News Bangla following the protests and unrest in Bangladesh, and BBC News Korean as the service reported on political upheaval in the country.
The BBC remains the most trusted international news provider.
Jonathan Munro, Global Director and Deputy CEO, BBC News, says:
'In the past year, the heightened global news agenda has seen audiences come to the BBC for news they can trust in times of instability and insecurity. Despite the decrease in press freedom and increased competition, the BBC has stepped up when audiences need our services the most – from elections and conflict, to the upheaval in Syria and unrest in Bangladesh.
'Alongside this, record numbers are coming to BBC News Persian despite the service being banned in Iran, and BBC News Arabic has once again demonstrated the importance of having an accurate and impartial news service in the region.'
The BBC's news in English across World Service English, BBC.com and the BBC News channel grew its audience to 198m people weekly, an increase of 7m year-on-year. The BBC News channel builds on its success last year to grow its audience in the UK and around the world to 102m.
Press freedom continues on a downward trend globally, with 112 countries reporting a decline in press freedom in 2024. 74% of the BBC World Service audience is now in countries with the lowest press freedom (up 1% on last year).
The BBC's biggest international market is India, followed by the United States, Nigeria, Iran, and Tanzania.
RM3
Follow for more
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
David Lammy's condemnation of the atrocities in Gaza is an important breakthrough
The images coming out of Gaza of emaciated, dying children are, as the foreign secretary David Lammy says, appalling and sickening. They cannot be dismissed as propaganda, and even the Israeli authorities have not sought to do so. They are, in human terms and by any standard, atrocities – just as surely as those inflicted on innocent people by Hamas terrorists on 7 October 2023 were also atrocities. This latest wave of human suffering should evoke yet more anguish among all civilised peoples. It is time, as Mr Lammy and his colleagues from 27 other nations plead in an open letter, for the war in Gaza to end. Realistically, it will not – at least not immediately. The Israeli government, with unconscious irony, dismisses the calls for an end to the fighting as 'disconnected from reality' and 'sending the wrong message to Hamas'. As opposed, critics might wonder, to the 'message' the Netanyahu government is currently sending to Hamas, which is that peace will never come, the IDF is set on the literal destruction of Gaza as a place of human habitation, and that they, Hamas, as terrorists, therefore have nothing to lose, whether they release the remaining hostages or not (and which they should do, in any case, without delay). So there is no change yet in Israeli policy. It has even opened up a new front by intervening in Syria, unleashing more agonies, as The Independent 's Bel Trew reports. The Israeli Defence Force is engaged in another major military offensive, this time in central Gaza, and the shelling goes on. Tens of thousands of people have been told, yet again, to move to safety, when there is no sanctuary anywhere, not least because of the terrible shortages of the means of life – clean water, food, shelter. There are credible reports that Israeli forces are systematically destroying what few structures remain standing across Gaza. In planned demolitions, to already damaged buildings and ones that appear largely intact, former homes, schools and other civilian infrastructure are being blown up. The plan to crush millions of people into a cynically labelled 'humanitarian city', which will be anything but safe, is still in place. The equally misnomered Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by Israel and the United States, is failing to deliver aid; instead, people are dying in the ensuing chaos. One witness, the British doctor Nick Maynard, says people at aid sites are being used as target practice (a claim rejected by the IDF). Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general with the UN Palestine aid agency, calls the sites a 'sadistic death trap'. There was a time when combatants in any war would not target United Nations agency posts and personnel. Not in the case of the Israeli occupying forces in Gaza, where the World Health Organisation's staff residence, main warehouse and health hub were attacked. The WHO reports that 'Israeli military forces entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward al-Mawasi amid active conflict. Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint.' The suffering of the people of Gaza is on an apocalyptic scale, bombarded and besieged virtually without respite, and visited by conquest, war, famine and death. It seems hopeless – but the last thing the Palestinian people need from the West is a counsel of despair. Mr Lammy has called out what Israel has been doing, taken some, as yet inadequate action, and come as close as he can to condemning Israel for war crimes: 'Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.' Many would urge him to go further. Lord Sumption, a universally respected lawyer, has argued that 'the conduct of Israel in Gaza is grossly disproportionate and there's at least an arguable case that it's genocidal '. Mr Lammy and the other 27 foreign ministers have the option to echo that kind of language. He is urged to do so – but he is right to hold back, and, for the time being, await the International Court to come to a judgment. Why? Because the only consideration about what to do next should be whether it will have any appreciable impact on what's happening on the ground. Recognising a Palestinian state and setting up a British embassy in Ramallah wouldn't save the life of single Palestinian baby. Nor would an outright charge of genocide. Not yet, at any rate. What would matter is if the Americans can be persuaded to put pressure on Israel to end the war and the famine: after all, this is Donald Trump 's declared policy. Loyal as he is to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli leader has been testing President Trump's patience in recent months. When Karoline Leavitt, the forthright White House spokesperson, reveals that the president has been 'caught off guard' by recent Israeli bombings in Syria and of a church in Gaza, and called his friend Bibi to 'rectify' the situation, it does at least show that action is possible. In May, Mr Trump expressed concern about people starving, and perhaps, as with Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine, the president may slowly be coming to realise that Mr Netanyahu has also been playing him along; he might take decisive action that would stop the killings in a day. But if Washington remains impassive, then once again a ' coalition of the willing ' must be formed to do whatever it takes to pressure Israel – diplomatic recognition of Palestine, a full arms embargo, trade sanctions and economic pressure. Especially if this is done in concert with Israel's influential regional neighbours, such as Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. ends the war in Gaza – now.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Lawyers say Venezuelan migrant ordered returned to US sent to home country under prisoner exchange
Despite a judge's order calling for his return to the United States from El Salvador, a Venezuelan migrant was instead sent back to his home country in a prisoner exchange deal reached last week, an unexpected development that left his lawyers scrambling to locate him. It marks the latest wrinkle in yet another messy court battle over the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, which has repeatedly challenged the power of federal courts. Attorneys for the Venezuelan native — identified only as Cristian in court papers — said during a court hearing Tuesday that they don't know where he is or how to get in touch with him. After he was deported to a Salvadoran mega-prison in March, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher ordered the government to facilitate the his return to the U.S. She cited the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to the same notorious prison. Cristian is among a group of plaintiffs who entered the country as unaccompanied children seeking asylum. A 2019 settlement agreement said they couldn't be deported until their asylum claims were adjudicated. Because his application is still pending, Gallagher said, the Trump administration violated that agreement in sending Cristian to a notorious prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, which was built to hold alleged gang members. And now he's back in Venezuela, the country he escaped years ago because he feared persecution, his attorneys argued during Tuesday's hearing in federal court in Baltimore. 'They sent him back to the one country he's actually seeking asylum from,' attorney Kevin DeJong told the court. 'We were shocked to see that happen on Friday.' Cristian was released from CECOT along with 251 other Venezuelan migrants who had been imprisoned in El Salvador since March. President Donald Trump paid El Salvador $6 million to house them there after he issued a proclamation calling for the arrest and removal of Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law. As part of the deal on Friday, Venezuela released 10 jailed U.S. citizens and permanent residents in exchange for getting back the 252 deportees. 'Cristian was a pawn in this plan, I don't know how else to say it,' DeJong said. 'He was a pawn in this prisoner exchange deal.' DeJong said Cristian's legal team hasn't been able to get in touch with him since. Gallagher, who was nominated to the federal bench by Trump in 2019, told the government's lawyers Tuesday to help provide contact information for Cristian. But Justice Department attorney Ruth Ann Mueller wasn't able to confirm even where in Venezuela he ended up. 'This is a fast-evolving situation,' she said. The judge said she's seen no evidence showing the Trump administration tried to get Cristian sent directly to the U.S. upon his release from prison in El Salvador. Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they plan to file a motion requesting sanctions against the government for failing to comply with the court's orders. Mueller, however, argued they were in compliance, saying she believes 'what happened with El Salvador is moot now,' given Cristian's release. She said facilitating his return looks 'very different now that he's in Venezuela.' The first step would be Cristian's lawyers contacting him and confirming whether he indeed wants to return to the U.S. Before his deportation, he was transferred into federal custody from a jail in Harris County, Texas, in January. Immigration officials have already determined that Cristian isn't entitled to asylum, according to earlier testimony from the government. But his lawyers argue he's still entitled to a ruling on the merits of his asylum application by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Attorneys for the government wrote in court papers last week that Venezuelan leaders have pledged not to interfere with travel plans for anyone in Cristian's position who has to attend legal proceedings in the U.S. 'With these assurances now having been obtained, and Cristian now having been released from El Salvador's custody, the Department of State has pledged to assist the Department of Homeland Security in facilitating the return of Cristian should he wish to return,' the attorneys wrote. Mellissa Harper, acting assistant director of enforcement and removal operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a written declaration to the court that State Department and embassy officials have assumed responsibility for high-level diplomatic discussions about the situation. Gallagher ordered the government to file weekly status reports as the case proceeds.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Starmer under pressure from cabinet to recognise Palestinian statehood
Keir Starmer is under pressure from cabinet ministers for the UK to immediately recognise Palestine as a state, as the global outcry grew over Israel's killing of starving civilians in Gaza. The prime minister is understood to have been urged by a number of senior ministers in different cabinet meetings over recent months that the UK should take a leading role in issuing recognition. The UK plans to formally acknowledge Palestine as part of a peace process, but only in conjunction with other western countries and 'at the point of maximum impact' – without saying what that would be. However, there has been a growing sense of desperation and horror inside the Labour cabinet over Israel's killing of starving Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and its attacks on humanitarian agencies, in recent weeks. 'We say that recognising Palestinian statehood is a really important symbol that you can only do once. But if not now, then when?' one cabinet minister said. Earlier this month, nearly 60 Labour MPs demanded the UK immediately recognises Palestine as a state, after Israel's defence minister announced plans to force all residents of Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah. Israel is facing intensifying international condemnation for its actions in Gaza, with the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warning that the 'last lifelines keeping people alive [in the strip] are collapsing'. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, told British parliamentarians in a visit this month that a two-state solution was 'the only way' to build peace and stability in the region. However, diplomats say he has faced resistance from allies such as Britain and Canada over his push. France and Saudi Arabia are co-chairing a rescheduled international conference at the UN in New York later this month to discuss postwar plans for Gaza and preparations for formally acknowledging Palestine. The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, who said he felt 'appalled, sickened' by the scenes of starving Palestinians being shot as they sought food, said the UK would 'play its part' in reaching a two-state solution for the Middle East, including working with the French. 'We said we wanted that to be part of a process. But we have had no process. What we have had is mayhem and conflict. There has been no process to attach that recognition to,' he told the BBC on Tuesday. 'Why do we say that? It's because we don't just want to recognise symbolically, we want to recognise as a way of getting to the two states that sadly many are trying to thwart at this point in time. 'But there is a live debate and discussion and let me restate again my belief in two states, and two states in which Palestinians have their dignity and freedom and Israel has its security for its people. We will do all we can to achieve that in time.' In an unusual Commons intervention on Gaza, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, on Tuesday called for recognition of the state of Palestine 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise'. He criticised the 'intolerable' attack by Israel on the World Health Organization's staff residence and main warehouse in Deir al-Balah on Monday, which had compromised its operations in Gaza. 'I deplore Israel's attacks on healthcare workers as well as other innocent civilians trying to access healthcare or vital aid. These actions go well beyond legitimate self-defence and undermine the prospects for peace,' he told MPs. 'I sincerely hope that the international community can come together, as the foreign secretary has been driving towards, to make sure that we see an end of this war but also that we recognise the state of Palestine while there is a state of Palestine left to recognise.' Streeting is understood to be among the cabinet ministers who have pushed for recognition of Palestine in recent cabinet meetings. The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and the Northern Ireland secretary, Hilary Benn, are also understood to have brought up the issue. At the Commons liaison committee on Monday, the prime minister said the situation in Gaza was 'intolerable' as he repeated the UK's commitment to recognising a Palestinian state 'at a time most conducive to the prospects of peace' in the region. Israel has been fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group's deadly attack on Israel in October 2023. A US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire is being discussed at talks in Doha.
