In a year when Â鶹Éç World Service’s global
audience reached an all-time record, business
development and marketing initiatives raised
awareness of what the Â鶹Éç has to offer.
The aim was to get closer to audiences and
find the right way of delivering our
programmes and services to them; this meant
relying increasingly on partnerships in radio, and
with new media companies.
New FM agreements were secured with local
stations. In the United States, stations were
attracted by the strong editorial proposition of
the Â鶹Éç’s Iraq Days, which portrayed life in the
country through the eyes of ordinary Iraqis, and
by Â鶹Éç World Service’s flagship programmes
such as Newshour being taken on the road to
the studios of partner stations. Audiences grew
to over five million in the highly competitive
North American market.
‘We targeted partner stations in the US with
big programmes like Newshour and it has paid
off,’ says Ruxandra Obreja, Head of Business
Development.‘In Washington, for example, our
new cooperation with FM public broadcaster
WETA has got us to the heart of the political
elite in the US.We are having an impact
because a lot of our target audience, people
who not only follow the news but also shape
it can now listen to us there.’
Arabic Youth Debate
The Â鶹Éç Arabic roadshow Your Future,Who
Decides It? travelled to five cities – Cairo,
Amman, Khartoum, Ramallah and Damascus.
Live broadcast debates held in universities were
promoted through interactive booths at
colleges, shopping malls, gyms and internet
cafés.Young men and women were invited to
express their views on issues such as traditional
marriage and unemployment, and to identify
and put questions to opinion formers and
leaders. In the Syrian capital Damascus, it was
the first time this type of open debate had
been broadcast live. Guests included Abdullah
Al Dardari, Deputy Prime Minister for
economic affairs, who encouraged delegates
to extend the debate in their own media.
‘Sharing the personal opinions, experiences and
aspirations of participants on the ground and
online was the most powerful aspect of the
roadshow,’ says Mohammed Yehia, Editor of
bbcarabic.com. ‘It highlighted the value of
interactive content and proved that insight is
not a monopoly for experts.The response was
overwhelming.The message from the youth
who took part was clear: there is a hunger
for similar events.’
The roadshow reached more than 260,000
people on the ground in five countries.
Hundreds packed the venues during live
one-hour radio debates and the roadshow
webpage was the most visited page on the
Arabic website over a period of two months,
generating over 300,000 page impressions.
‘Our big marketing campaigns this year had a
strong editorial element and we are working to
ensure we are capitalising on their initiatives,’
says Alan Booth, Controller of Marketing
Communications and Audiences. ‘Our main
asset is our programmes and you get added
value where local people are involved in
making them.You really begin to make an
impact and you get a buzz around the Â鶹Éç
being in the area.’
Roadshows in other key markets also gave
listeners new opportunities to discuss issues
central to their lives. In Uganda, presenter Paul
Bakibinga, himself a Ugandan, was the ‘face’ of
the roadshow that launched the interactive
programme Africa Have Your Say and a new
weekend edition of the current affairs show
Network Africa. ‘Ugandans came out in their
thousands to meet the Â鶹Éç teams as they
toured the country, and their enthusiasm was
humbling,’ he says. ‘We want our African
audiences to engage with the Â鶹Éç’s services,
and with their responses the Ugandans have
provided us with clear understanding as to
what the agenda should contain.’
One of the highlights of the tour was a live
programme from Jinja, the source of the Nile,
focusing on the controversial issue of access to
water and how resources are divided up and
shared amongst countries of the Nile basin. For
Regional Executive Editor Kari Blackburn, one
of the most memorable stops was at Fort
Portal in the west of the country, supporting
the Â鶹Éç’s partner station Voice of Toro, ‘Whole
streets of the town were completely packed
with people,’ she says.‘Many had walked long
distances and taken buses for hours to meet
presenter Paul Bakibinga.’
The Â鶹Éç Urdu roadshow travelled to the
Northern territories of Pakistan, making
programmes with listeners in Gilgit, Hunza and
Skardu shortly before the region was struck by
the South Asian earthquake. Â鶹Éç Hindi’s Aapki
baat:Aap ke beech (Your views directly from you)
toured the heartland of Bangalore, Kalinganagar,
Muzaffarpur and Pune and the states of Punjab
and Uttar Pradesh in the run-up to India’s
budget announcement in February 2006.
‘Listeners sometimes find issues surrounding
the budget and economic policies cloaked
in jargon and figures,’ says Achala Sharma,
Head of Â鶹Éç Hindi. ‘We lifted the cloak
by letting ordinary people quiz our panel
of experts and voice their views on what
the economic transformation of India
means to them.’
Â鶹Éç Arabic Roadshow:
Your Future, who decides it?
- ‘Corruption is fuelling unemployment in
Jordan. You cannot get a job unless you
have the right connections.’
Amin Jarar – Amman, Jordan
- ‘Searching for our identity is an unfulfilled
dream for us young Sudanese caught
between poverty and oppression.’
Mohamed – Kesla, Sudan
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A year in review |
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Business development and marketing |
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