BBC World launches video ads to global audience

by Hayley Pinkerfield, Revolution UK 24-Sep-07, 11:15

LONDON - Major advertisers have already signed up to run campaigns on BBC World's broadband news on-demand service in its first month.

The service marks the first time that BBC broadband content has been made available for non-UK audiences, enabling advertisers to run video adverts to international users.British Airways, Citibank, Delta Airways, Emirates and Nokia are amongst the first brands to advertise on the service, which includes 30 daily international news clips and hourly one-minute World News Summaries.

BBC World is the BBC's commercially funded international 24-hour news channel. Advertising will appear in pre-roll and banner formats around the broadband news clips, which users can view by clicking on ‘watch' icons at www.bbcnews.com.

"Our news clips have been available in broadband on third-party commercial websites for some time, so it makes sense for us to upgrade our service so audiences can enjoy the same broadband quality clips on our own site. The broadband news clip service is part of our digital strategy to attract new audiences," said Sian Kevill, editorial director for BBC World.

BBC World television is watched by 76 million viewers every week, the largest audience of any BBC television channel, while the BBC's international-facing website attracts around 50 million users (excluding the UK) per month, with around 24 million visiting the news pages. Of these, 50 per cent are from the US, 30 per cent are from Europe and 20 per cent watch from Asia. The channel's content is also available globally on mobile phones and via third-party websites such as YouTube, Yahoo and RealNetworks.

Non-UK audiences wanting to view news clips without ads will still be able to access the narrowband service, which will continue to be available without advertising.