Indiantelevision.com Team

(21 February 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The BBC's six-week campaign 'Your world, your voice' toured 14 towns across the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, debating issues of importance to the local residents, from jobs, education, pollution and crime to water supply, land reform and Naxalism.

The campaign connected with over 73,000 people in Northern India. 45,000 people engaged with the BBC via audience-participation events including debates, quizzes and street theater.

The BBC also reached around 28,000 people with promotional activities in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal.

The campaign was preceded by a BBC commissioned research project to identify the main concerns of listeners in Northern India.

BBC Hindi head Achala Sharma said "Wherever we went, we were humbled by the level of engagement people showed us. While thousands came to each debate, nearly 11,000 local residents had their say via the questionnaires and around 13,500 people subscribed to our newsletter, BBC Hindi Samvad.

"Through the questionnaires, the local residents expressed demand for increasing air-time of BBC Hindi's Hum se Poochiye (Ask Us) and Career kya Karoon (Career Advice). They also want more content on health, science and arts as well as entertainment", she added.