BBC sees audiences surge over coronavirus coverage

A total of 11.7 million viewers watched the rolling BBC News Channel last week - its biggest audience in five years, the corporation said in a statement on Twitter. BBC News Online meanwhile recorded 70 million unique browsers from Britain alone - 36 percent higher than the week of last December's general election.

All of the top 10 most-read stories for UK users on the platform were about COVID-19, it added. The announcement came as the world's biggest public service broadcaster comes under renewed scrutiny of its controversial licence-fee funding model.

The government has begun a review of the arrangement, which requires British households to pay just over £154 ($199, 170 euros) a year to watch live television.

In the last financial year to April 30, the broadcaster received £3.7 billion in funding from the licence fee - an enviable revenue stream in tough economic times for media organisations. But the government has said that in an era of live streaming, on-demand and subscription services, it may need to adapt and secure new sources of revenue.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2020

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