People across the Middle East have increasingly turned to the BBC during the Arab revolts, prompting a record rise in audiences.
Independent research published today shows that overall audiences to the BBC's Arabic services have risen by more than 50% to a record high of 33.4m adults weekly - up from 21.6m before the "Arab spring.'
BBC Arabic TV's audience has risen to 24.4m from 13.5m – up by more than 80%. Weekly reach across Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco has nearly doubled to a weekly reach of 18.4% from 9.8%.
The weekly audience estimates are based on a study carried out by the Broadcasting Board of Governors' International Audience Research Programme (IARP).
The biggest increases were seen in Egypt, where the BBC Arabic TV audience quadrupled to a weekly reach of 16.2%, reaching 9.3m people.
Liliane Landor of BBC global news said: "In turbulent times, the BBC's aim to provide trusted news and impartial information is more valued than ever across the Middle East and North Africa.
"These impressive figures show that international audiences are increasingly turning to the BBC for independent news that they can trust.
"In an increasingly competitive TV market, it demonstrates there will always be space for high-quality journalism that seeks to inform all, even-handedly."
NB: BBC Arabic is the BBC's integrated news and information service for the Arab world. It is available on air and on demand 24-hours a day, seven days a week. It is both the largest and the oldest of the BBC's non-English language services.
Source: BBC global news communications
