The BBC has launched BBC.jp, a fully commercially-funded non-English language website offering Japanese translation of its news, analysis and feature content.
Business, entertainment and tech stories will be translated from BBC’s English language global news and features site BBC.com, which currently reaches 85 million unique users and about one billion page views per month.
“We know there is an appetite for trusted, impartial international news,” said BBC Global News chief executiver Jim Egan. “The BBC reaches an upmarket, affluent audience and launches like this allow us to enhance our offer to advertisers and partners who want to reach an influential, elite demographic across an even broader variety of platforms.”
The site will complement existing international commercial news outlets such as TV channel BBC World News, international app BBC News and BBC.com, as well as the advertising carried on BBC World Service’s websites in 28 languages. The commercial roll out aims to reach 132 million browsers internationally.
Other recent digital developments include a Japanese language YouTube channel and Twitter feed, along with a several VOD and syndication deals with digital companies like Hulu and Yahoo!
“The scale, breadth and quality of our language services puts the BBC in a unique positon to help advertisers reach targeted audiences across the world on the screens that matter and in the languages they care about,” said BBC Advertising executive vice president, Carolyn Gibson. “Working with these sites allows brands to achieve both local relevance and global impact.”
