The BBC has signed a deal with Comcast's Xfinity TV to
launch its 24-hour international news channel BBC World News in major markets
in the U.S., it was announced Tuesday.
The network's programming includes its U.S. nightly
newscast, BBC World News America, along with international news,
documentaries, lifestyle programs and interviews.
The channel will be available in Philadelphia, Chicago,
Boston, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Portland, Northern California, Michigan and
Western New England by the end of 2011 and will add more Comcast markets next
year, expecting to total 15 million U.S. households by the end of 2012.
The carriage deal with Comcast is the latest effort by
the BBC to expand its global footprint and take advantage of what the network
sees as a need for unbiased news in the U.S. among the partisan Fox News and
MSNBC.
"This deal represents huge progress for BBC World News in
the most competitive television marketplace in the world," said Peter Horrocks,
the BBC's director of global news in a statement. "We know that U.S.
viewers increasingly value the smart and impartial international journalism provided
by the BBC."
The story was first reported by the New York Times.
