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Americans Turn To BBC For War News

By Jason Deans

ic service channel PBS increased by 28% in the three weeks after the start of the conflict.

In New York the viewership for the evening news programme has jumped by a third while in Dallas, Texas, it has quadrupled, according to PBS.

At the same time two of the main US networks lost viewers on their flagship nightly news broadcasts, with CBS down 15% and ABC down nearly 6%.

Jonathan Howlett, the director of airtime sales at BBC World, claimed more viewers were tuning in to the network for its "balanced and impartial" reporting.

"Coupled with the flood of very positive viewer comments we have been receiving via email over the past few weeks this paints a very strong picture for BBC World as the international news source of choice for global TV audiences," he said.

The US' three main 24-hour news networks, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, all recorded huge audience increases after the war began in late March.

In the first few day of the conflict Fox News' audience was up by 379% compared with the same week in 2002, while CNN enjoyed a 393% ratings boost and MSNBC rose 651%.

Many US viewers said they had switched to the BBC because of the apparent pro-American bias of some local networks.

Fox News, which claims to provide fair and balanced journalism, displays a US flag in the corner of the screen and has been almost consistently upbeat about the war's progress.

NBC fired Baghdad correspondent Peter Arnett after he criticised the American war plan in an interview with Iraqi radio before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

One viewer from New York wrote on the PBS website: "The BBC seems to be the only decent source for news on this conflict. American networks are just appalling."

Another viewer from Norwalk, Connecticut, commented: "I cannot trust any of the other stations to be truthful. They appear to omit what could be seen as critical of the US."

The BBC's increase in viewing figures has also turned Baghdad correspondent Rageh Omaar into a sex symbol in America, with the New York Post recently dubbing him the "Scud Stud".

PBS stations broadcasting BBC World News bulletins reach more than 80% of US homes. The service is also carried by the cable network BBC America.

The BBC said it had seen similar increases in viewing figures elsewhere in the world, including Australia, India and South Africa.

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Four Winds 10 - News