BBC: 8pm short gets news to more

BBC One's short 8pm bulletin is reaching millions who do not usually watch the news, the corporation has claimed.

The weekday initiative was introduced in December with the aim of catching EastEnders fans and other primetime viewers who avoid the 6pm and 10pm news.

Ten O'Clock News editor Craig Oliver this week said initial figures showed it was working. Some 1.7 m viewers said the summary was the only BBC television news they saw during the week.

During its first two weeks a massive 24.4m people saw the bulletin, according to Oliver.

Writing on the BBC editors' blog, he added: "As we thought, it's not the sort of bulletin (like the Six or Ten O'Clock News) that viewers would make a special point of watching - it's something they'd catch just before or after EastEnders. Indeed 65% of the audience only watched one summary in a week."

Oliver said figures suggested the new summary was not causing people to switch off, either, and was allowing the corporation a chance to air breaking stories.