The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has reported a surge in audiences in the Pacific area and beyond in recent months as people looked to stay informed about the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ABC said it provided timely, accurate information about COVID-19 to the Pacific region with strong engagement across all its platforms.
“The audience reach of ABC Australia television is estimated as 389,000 monthly viewers,” a statement from the broadcaster said.
“Six per cent the adult population (14 years and over) in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and four per cent in Fiji have viewed ABC Australia television in the past 30 days,” it said.
“The audience reach of ABC Radio Australia is estimated as 407,000 monthly listeners.”
The ABC said digital audiences on its web and app in the Pacific region were estimated at 77,000 monthly users.
It said that since January this year, ABC content in the Pacific had recorded 29,000 average weekly users of its web services and apps across Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia, 47 per cent above the same period last year.
It said its YouTube channels from across Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia had 577,000 views on them, an increase of 220 per cent from the same period last year.
It said the number of weekly users was highest in March when the COVID-19 pandemic peaked in the region.
The ABC said it was available as a 24-hour channel or as content blocks on local broadcasters in 40 territories across the Pacific.
It said international audiences had amounted to, on average, nine million weekly users of the ABC NEWS web services and app since January, a 51 per cent increase from the same period last year.
