BBC boosts Hausa service

THE British Broadcasting Service (BBC) World Service’s bbchausa.com has started hosting advertising.

Hausa is one of the most widely spoken languages in West Africa.  Advertisers will now have the opportunity to reach Hausa-speakers (outside the UK) in key BBC Hausa territories such as Nigeria, Niger, Cameroun and Ghana.

By introducing advertising to its language websites, BBC World Service aims to generate revenue that can be reinvested in high-quality journalism and innovative technology.

BBC Hausa Editor, Mansur Liman, comments: “The BBC Hausa website is a destination of choice for Hausa-speakers, wherever they are, with its offer of up-to-the minute news, features and analysis, bringing to life developments in Nigeria, Niger, Ghana and Cameroun and around the world.

As our website starts carrying adverts, its editorial content will continue to stand out for its truly independent and impartial news coverage presenting all sides of the story. This new development will provide the opportunity to invest further in the site for the benefit of audiences.”

Isla Macleod, Digital Business Development Director for EMEA, concludes: “The BBC is one of the most trusted and established international public service broadcasters in Africa.  This new opportunity will allow advertisers to reach a Hausa-speaking online audience within the trusted environment of the BBC.”

BBC Hausa is one of the most established and successful BBC services in Africa. BBC Hausa’s trusted radio and online content and strong engagement with mobile and social-media audiences has maintained its huge popularity among audiences in Nigeria and across West Africa. BBC Hausa radio reaches 17.7 million people every week.

The website bbchausa.com is ranked as the second most visited site in Nigeria, serving a massive 68.6 million page views per month (across mobile, tablet and PC) and engaging with 3.5 million unique visitors each month – a statistic which enjoys a solid 30 per cent growth year-on-year.

BBC Hausa also has a strong following on social media, with over 840,000 Facebook fans, 100,000 Twitter followers, 7,000 followers on Google+ and 6,600 subscribers of the BBC Hausa YouTube channel.

The website bbchausa.com is the fifth BBC World Service non-English-language website to offer commercial opportunities. Advertising around the BBC content is based on stringent rules, which ensure that the experience for international users is not compromised and that the integrity and impartiality of the BBC’s journalism is protected at all times.