Sky News beats rivals with coverage of war on Iraq

by Claire Billings,, Brand Republic 25-Mar-03, 11:10

LONDON - More than three times as many viewers are watching Sky News's war coverage than that of its arch-rival BBC News 24.

Sky News's coverage of the first day of "shock and awe" bombing on Friday March 21 drew 9.2% of viewing in multichannel homes -- three times the 2.9% share BBC News 24 achieved. Its reach was 6.3m, compared with News 24's reach of 3.7m, while ITV News drew a paltry 0.9% share or a reach of 2.28m.

For Friday night peak quarter-hour viewing, Sky News' figures were the second highest the channel has drawn, only surpassed by the Louise Woodward trial. Its quarter-hour viewing figures hit 1.7m, while coverage of the aerial assault on Iraq reached 1.2m.

Sky's clear lead over its rivals continued over the weekend. On Saturday, Sky News drew 7.7% of the multichannel audience, a reach of 6.3m, while News 24 drew a 2.6% share or a reach of 4.3m.

By Sunday, however, BBC News began to catch up, drawing a share of 4.2% with a reach of 5.2m. However, this was still some way off Sky's share, which continued to grow to 9.5%, a reach of 7.2m.

The figures prove Sky's determination to continue to beat its publicly funded rival. Last year, BBC News 24 was told by the government to take on Sky and try to be first with breaking news. The satellite broadcaster retaliated, saying the statement made it more determined to remain the UK's most popular rolling news channel.

Yesterday, it was revealed that news channels were diverting funds to boost their coverage of the war. The BBC has set aside £10m from its current central budget for extended news coverage, simulcasting its BBC News 24 channel with BBC Two.

Sky News is also understood to have increased its budget. However, details of by how much were not available.

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