Business people ‘turned off’ by News at Ten

Eleven per cent fewer business men and women choose to watch ITN’s News at Ten than two years ago, according to the 1995 British Business Survey conducted by RSL.

Both News at Ten and BBC’s Nine O’Clock News have suffered a decline in the number of business professionals viewing.

Only 24 per cent of business people now choose to watch News at Ten, compared with 27.6 per cent two years ago when the last survey was conducted. Those choosing to watch the BBC 1 bulletin have fallen from 40.7 per cent to 37.8 per cent.

In contrast, more business professionals now watch cable and satellite: 79 per cent claim never to watch, compared with 85.2 per cent two years ago. Twelve per cent of business men and women choose to watch Sky News and nine per cent CNN. No comparable figures are available for 1993.

The British Business Survey is conducted every other year and screens 70,000 households – this year, the survey sampled 3,077 individuals – on what media they choose and choose not to use.

An ITN spokesperson says ITN relies on BARB data rather than surveys which report viewers’ “claimed” viewing. On BARB, she says, News at Ten has increased its ABC1 viewers by two per cent every month for the first quarter of 1995, the last period available.