MUMBAI: BBC News television and radio can for the first time be delivered directly to computer desktops in the UK via RSS – also known as Really Simple Syndication.

A wide variety of news reports in audio and video - including the latest breaking news pictures, exclusive interviews, background features and analysis - is now available from the BBC News website. RSS means that internet users can keep up to date with the information they want, without having to visit multiple sites.

All users need to do ,is, select one of the many newsreader applications available on the web, which enables them to display and subscribe to the RSS feeds they want – including BBC News audio and video.

Clips and packages filed by some of the BBC's top correspondents are available from the best of BBC News' flagship programmes including; News 24, BBC One's national bulletins, Newsnight and Radio 4's, Today programme. Users can select the video or audio they want and have it delivered directly to their desktop – to be viewed at their leisure – by following a few simple steps.

This latest offering builds on the BBC News website's well-established RSS service for text content and the BBC News Player – the home of BBC news in video and audio. All the media is available in broadband (for UK users), narrowband, Real and Windows formats. Website owners will also be able to integrate BBC News video and audio into their own sites via this new RSS service. You can find out more here.

RSS feeds are an increasingly popular way to customise content, delivering approximately 3 per cent of the BBC News website's total traffic per month.

BBC software developer, Joel Chippindale ,says, "This is a big step forward - making it far easier to keep up to date with the latest audio and video news clips from the BBC. It's a great addition to our existing RSS service

"RSS is already being used by a significant and expanding audience who access the BBC's text stories. Adding video to the mix allows us to further meet growing audience needs." says,Interactive TV and Broadband editor,Paul Clabburn.

The BBC News Player launched just over a year ago with a target of reaching 100,000 unique users a day. It has exceeded that target - reaching an average of 119,733 unique users per day on weekdays between October 2004 and September 2005.

Overall, during the same period it reached an average 108,255 unique users per day. In October 2004, when the News Player was introduced, the average number of daily unique users was 69,211. The latest figures for September 2005 show that its use has doubled, reaching 137,619.