BBC World News may have finally broken through into the US market following a new deal with Comcast’s Xfinity TV.
By the end of 2011, the channel will be available in Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Portland, as well as across Northern California, Michigan and Western New England. BBC World News will launch in additional Comcast markets next year.
Although the nightly BBC World News America is seen across the United States through PBS stations, the full channel has found carriage difficult. It is now expected to be in nearly 15 million US homes by end of 2012.
Peter Horrocks, the BBC’s director of Global News, described the agreement as “one of the most important breakthroughs for the BBC’s international commercial news channel”
“This deal represents huge progress for BBC World News in the most competitive television marketplace in the world. We know that US viewers increasingly value the smart and impartial international journalism provided by the BBC,” he said.
Earlier this month, the BBC announced the appointment of former NPR executive editor Dick Meyer as executive producer for the BBC’s news services in America.
