BBC global audience hits new high

News channel BBC World has 76m viewers a week

Record numbers of people are watching, listening to and clicking on BBC News around the world, according to independent research.

Television, radio and online news have a combined weekly audience of 233m - up from 210m last year.

The survey, across 100 countries, found that 20m more are listening to the BBC World Service each week, with the biggest growth in Bangladesh.

The BBC's news website is also used by 12m people outside the UK each week.

Globally, 183m people listen to the World Service every week, but in China the audience has shrunk by 3m since last year.

BBC World, the corporation's commercially-funded TV news channel, had 76m viewers a week - an increase of 10m compared with 2006.

The BBC's media correspondent, Torin Douglas, said the BBC had increased its audience despite greater competition from new channels like Al Jazeera.

The figures were compiled by independent market research groups.