NEW DELHI: Viewers around the world turn to BBC World for balanced, in-depth international news and information. Now, Verizon FiOS TV subscribers can enjoy this 24-hour news resource as BBC World joins the Verizon FiOS TV channel line-up on channel 92, a press release from Verizon said today.

"BBC World telecasts to more than 200 countries and territories across the globe, yet few U.S. cable companies offer it," says Terry Denson, Verizon vice president - FiOS TV content and programming.

Verizon provides FiOS TV over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network, straight to customers' homes. Verizon FiOS TV offers a broad collection of all-digital programming, more than two dozen high-definition channels, 8,600 video-on-demand titles and more.

At the end of the first quarter, Verizon FiOS TV had 348,000 subscribers and was available to approximately 3.1 million households in parts of California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

BBC World provides international news, business and sports reports, plus award-winning current affairs series and documentaries, to a weekly global audience of 65 million viewers.

A study by American pollster Frank Luntz, commissioned by BBC World in September 2006, shows that the channel has "mass potential" and "an eager audience" in the United States.

In addition to the programming on the BBC World channel, U.S. audiences can view BBC World via 30-minute programs shown daily on 229 PBS stations throughout the United States and on BBC America.

"BBC News already has a strong reputation in the U.S," says BBC World's director of distribution and business development, Jeff Hazell. "BBC World channel offers audiences a truly international news agenda and a global perspective and is in the enviable position of being able to meet the demands of American viewers for in-depth, balanced international news."