BBC Arabic audience up 50%
December 5, 2011
People across the Middle East have increasingly turned to the BBC during the Arab revolts, prompting a record rise in audiences.
Research from the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ International Audience Research Programme (IARP) shows that overall audiences to the BBC’s Arabic services have risen by more than 50 per cent to a record high of 33.4 million adults weekly – up from 21.6 million before the “Arab spring.’
BBC Arabic TV’s audience has risen to 24.4 million from 13.5 million – up by more than 80 per cent. Weekly reach across Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco has nearly doubled to a weekly reach of 18.4 per cent from 9.8 per cent.
The biggest increases were seen in Egypt, where the BBC Arabic TV audience quadrupled to a weekly reach of 16.2 per cent, reaching 9.3 million people.