Lord Chidgey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the changes in audience sizes in African countries or regions following the switch from short wave to FM transmission of BBC World Service programmes between 1999 and 2014.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The BBC World Service has advised that they make the following assessment of the changes in audience sizes in African countries or regions:

Sub -Saharan Africa –

Total audience across all platforms has risen from 52.7 million in 2005 to 81.8 million in 2015 (55 per cent increase).

In 2005, Short Wave and Medium Wave delivered 63 per cent of total audiences; by 2015 Short Wave and Medium Wave delivered 39.3 per cent of total audiences.

Short Wave and Medium Wave audiences in the region have dropped 3.9 per cent, while BBC’s direct FM audiences have grown by 125 per cent.

Middle East and North Africa –

Total audience across all platforms has risen from 15.3 million in 2005 to 48.2 million in 2015 (215 per cent increase).

In 2005, Short Wave and Medium Wave delivered 78 per cent of total audiences; by 2015 Short Wave and Medium Wave delivered 8.5 per cent of total audiences.

In this period, Short Wave and Medium Wave audiences in the region have dropped by 62 per cent, while the BBC’s direct FM audiences have dropped by 59 per cent.

BBC Arabic TV reaches 30.3 million people across Middle East & North Africa.

The World Service use Global Audience Measurement (GAM) data to track performance by platform and by market. This data provides clear records from 2005 onwards.