NEW YORK -- When it comes to reach, few news organizations rival that of the BBC, the venerable British broadcasting service recognized for its no-nonsense newscasts delivered in crisp, clipped tones.
BBC World, the BBC's commercially funded 24-hour television news channel, attracts 76 million viewers a week from more than 200 countries, making it one of the biggest international news networks.
But 16 years after its launch, the channel is largely absent from one major market: the United States. Just about 2.5 million homes have access to the network: either through Cablevision in New York or the new Verizon FiOS service, available in fewer than a dozen states. (PBS and BBC America run 30-minute BBC World newscasts.)
"North America is the only region of the world where BBC World isn't available on a 24-hour basis" in most places, said Richard Sambrook, the network's chief executive. "We've had a number of discussions and negotiations over the years, but in a sense, we took the easier route: We got the rest of the world sorted out and then came to North America."
BBC World executives are hoping to make inroads in the United States through a campaign aimed at prodding viewers to demand that their cable and satellite providers distribute the network.
The thrust of their message: American networks are failing to satisfy the audience's appetite for foreign news.
"We've had a wealth of research which clearly demonstrates there is a real thirst for unbiased international news," said Annabel Cameron, head of marketing for BBC World.
To bolster its argument, the network notes that nearly two-thirds of the 19 million people who visit BBCNews.com every month are based in the U.S., according to internal research statistics.
It remains to be seen whether the network's tactics will succeed in persuading the cable and satellite systems to add another channel to their menus. Representatives of Comcast would say only that they have had preliminary discussions with BBC World.
BBC executives said they're under no illusions that getting carriage in the United States will be easy.
"Largely because the cable systems are mature, this is a very difficult market to break into it," Sambrook said. "But it's an important one, both editorially and commercially."
The network is hoping that its reputation for impartiality will help it appeal to U.S. viewers discontented with American news outlets. To spotlight the dissatisfaction, BBC World released a national survey of American adults last month by pollster Frank Luntz that found that 47 percent rated current U.S. coverage of international news as fair or poor. Almost two-thirds of cable subscribers said they would be interested in a 24-hour BBC channel. (Rival networks declined to comment on the poll's findings.)
The survey contradicts the "conventional wisdom in U.S. news organizations that Americans aren't so interested in the world," said Rome Hartman, a former CBS News producer who recently joined the BBC.
Hartman, who until recently served as executive producer of CBS Evening News With Katie Couric, is developing a one-hour evening newscast aimed at U.S. audiences that will run on both BBC America and BBC World, set to debut this fall. He said he envisions the program as a complement to the American network news programs.
"I think the American networks on their evening news do a good job," he said. "I think we did a great job. But this is going to give you a much more nutritious meal, night in and night out, of world events and trends than the American networks are able to provide."
Matea Gold writes for the Los Angeles Times.