Survey reveals high levels of trust and influence for BBC World News

A Media Brand Values survey, conducted in three continents, has revealed high levels of trust and influence for BBC World News and its associated website http://www.bbcworld.com among some of the world’s most influential business professionals.

Respondents placed BBC World News ahead of competitors Bloomberg, CNBC and CNN in the brand value categories of trust and influence.

BBC World News also led the way in four other areas, with more respondents describing the 24-hour news and information channel as “stimulating”, “quotable”, “for people like me” and a “must read/see”.

Alongside a number of quality print publications, BBC World News continued to rate highly as a “trustworthy” brand, ahead of titles such as Time, Newsweek, Harvard Business Review and National Geographic Magazine.

Website BBCWorld.com http://www.bbcworld.com also came out top in levels of trust among users, beating 10 other global news websites, including Bloomberg.com, CNN.com, Economist.com, FT.com and Time.com.

Jeremy Nye, Head of Research and Planning BBC Global News, says: “These are very positive results, reflecting the strength of the BBC World News brand. Trust and stimulation reflect our journalistic credentials, but being ranked leading news channel for influence and ‘quotability’ by such hard-to-impress leaders, shows genuine strength. The respondents to the Media Brand Values survey are at the top of the world’s business ladder and their decisions and actions have a huge amount of influence on those around them”.

Respondents to the survey came from nine countries across Europe and Asia, as well as the USA and all are pan-regional media consumers.

They are top-management and influential people, with an average personal income of US $220,000. 51% work for global organisations, 39% sit on the main board of their company and 55% speak at seminars and conferences as part of their work.


Ends

23.4.08


For further information and images please contact:
BBC World Press Office
Tel: 011 44 208 433 3787
Email: bbcworldpressoffice@bbc.co.uk

Note to Editors:

Respondents to the Media Brand Values survey, carried out by Objective Research, came from the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and the USA. 1,395 respondents completed the survey.

Four sample groups were covered: Commercial (60%); Influentials (20%), Powerbrokers - Law/Banking/Consultancy (10%) and Government/Public Sector (10%). Results shown are among weekly viewers to the TV channels, average issue readers of the titles, and weekly visitors to relevant websites.

Full list of media organisations surveyed:

TV Broadcasters
BBC World News, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN

Websites
BBCWord.com, Bloomberg.com, CNN.com, Economist.com, Forbes.com, FT.com, IHT.com, Times.com, Google.com, MSN.com, Yahoo.com

Print Press
The Economist, The Financial Times, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, International Herald Tribune, National Geographic, Newsweek, Time, Wall Street Journal

The Media Brand Values survey was sponsored by BBC World News, The Financial Times and The Economist.

BBC World News, the BBC's commercially funded international 24-hour news and information channel, is owned and operated by BBC World Ltd, a member of the BBC’s commercial group of companies. BBC World News attracts 76 million viewers a week, is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and reaches 276 million households and more than 1.5 million hotel rooms. The channel's content is also available on 57 cruise ships, 42 airlines, 34 mobile phone networks and a number of major online platforms including bbc.com/news. For further information on how to receive BBC World News, download schedules or find out more about the channel, visit http://www.bbcworld.com