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ITV and
BBC Tie In Ratings War
The BBC and ITV were tied last night as both Strictly Come
Dancing and X Factor attracted 11.8 million viewers, according to overnight
figures.
The two big Saturday night entertainment shows saw a massive share of the
audience tune in to enjoy the BBC’s Strictly and ITV’s X Factor.
Today, ITV said 11.8M viewers watched the singing show and then another
300,000 viewers tuned in to watch it an hour later on ITV1+1, an improvement
of 1.1 million viewers from the previous week.
A BBC spokeswoman said at Strictly’s viewing peak of 11.8m, the channel had
a 45.7% share of the television audience.
ITV1’s live coverage of England’s 1-0 win over Spain peaked with 8.8 million
viewers and 'Piers Morgan’s Life Stories' interview with Paul Gascoigne
peaked with 5.5 million.
November
13
2011 - waveguide.co.uk
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More Money
For World Service
The BBC World Service stands to benefit from a £90m
government grant.
The five-year grant between the BBC World Service Trust and the Department
for International Development (DfID) will focus on 14 countries.
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell called the media "one of
our most powerful tools": "We want to give people knowledge and a voice."
Last year, ministers announced the Foreign Office would no longer fund the
World Service from 2014.
In October 2010, the government reduced the World Service's £237m annual
budget by 16%.
In response to the cuts, the BBC said it would close five of its 32 language
services and cut up to 650 jobs over three years.
Earlier this year, the World Service also announced that it would end radio
programming in seven languages, including Russian, Mandarin Chinese and
Ukrainian.
The five-year grant follows suggestions by an MPs' committee in April to use
part of the Department for International Development's (DfID) budget to make
up the shortfall in World Service funding.
DfID is one of just two government departments to have its budget protected
amid huge cuts.
The money will go directly to the BBC World Service Trust, a charitable
organisation which works with hundreds of different broadcasters across the
world - of which the World Service is one.
Funds will be aimed at social networking websites and mobile phone
technology, as well as traditional radio output, in countries including
Burma, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories.
"The Arab Spring showed how access to free and trustworthy information can
have profound social consequences," said Department Secretary, Mitchell. "We
want to build on that."
"This grant recognised the vital role we play and will help us reach 200
million people across 14 countries over the next five years." said Caroline
Nursery, director of the BBC World Service Trust.
However, a Trust spokesman said the grant would have only a "modest,
indirect benefit" on the World Service, adding: "The World Service Trust is
a charity that is legally and financially independent and has its own
distinct mission."
The BBC World Service is currently funded by the UK government through
parliamentary grant-in-aid, administered by the Foreign Office.
The service, which started broadcasting in 1932, currently costs £272m a
year and has an audience of 241 million worldwide across radio, television
and online.
November
13
2011 - waveguide.co.uk
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