The latest edition of the pan-European research, which measures audience reach among the main income earners in the top 20 per cent of households, also shows BBC World’s audience has increased for the ninth consecutive year of EMS surveys in weekly and monthly categories. BBC world was the only channel to achieve this.

An official release said that BBC World had also added 301,000 daily and 700,000 weekly viewers over the last 12 months, which meant that its weekly audience now stands at 3.8 million among the EMS universe of affluent Europeans. The channel's monthly reach has grown by 11 per cent to stand at eight million for the first time.

The BBC’s international 24-hour news and information channel recorded double-digit weekly percentage growth in 11 of the 15 countries included in the analysis, notably Italy (up 84 per cent year-on-year), Spain (up 51 per cent), Sweden (up 49 per cent), Norway (up 39 per cent) and Finland (up 32 per cent).

It continues to attract a more influential audience than any other major international channel, with a greater proportion of “Opinion Leaders” (30 per cent of weekly viewers) and business flyers (26 per cent made three or more air trips for work).

The release also added that the channel's audience growth can also report high levels of audience loyalty which can be seen in two ways. Firstly, its weekly audience in the second half of 2003 was 73,000 higher than in the first half, compared to falls (in one case, of up to a million viewers) for most of its competitors. BBC World’s audience watches for longer as well – the typical viewer tunes in for longer than those for all other international news and business channels except Sky News.

BBC World head of research and planning Jeremy Nye said, "Not only is BBC World continuing to grow, but this growth is accelerating. What emerges most strongly is the loyalty of viewers – recent converts to the channel have continued to watch, and have stayed tuned in for longer than our main competitors."