The document summarizes the results of an international survey conducted by Populus for the BBC between September and October 2013 that examined perceptions of television quality in 14 countries. Over 500 adults aged 18 and older in each country were asked to rate the overall quality of television in their country as well as the quality of specific television channels. The key findings were that the UK had the highest rating for overall television quality at 72% and that within the UK, BBC One received the highest individual channel quality rating at 79%.

1. International Perceptions of TV Quality

2. Methodology
The following research was conducted online by Populus for the BBC between
30th September–18th October 2013
Fieldwork took place in 14 countries (Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, UK, United Arab Emirates and
USA) with a representative sample of 500 adults 18+ per country (Brazil and United
Arab Emirates – urban sample)
In the questionnaire respondents were asked to rate the quality of TV overall and
the quality of each of the biggest TV channels in their country
TV channels with a share of 5% or more in their country were included in the
survey. In some territories channels with a share of less than 5% were also included
e.g. Channel 5 in the UK
Channels included in the Japan survey are for Kanto – main market. Channels
included in the Australia survey are based on share in the five metro cities

3. The UK is a global leader on overall TV quality, with 72% of UK adults saying
TV programmes overall in the UK are good quality – the highest out of the 14
surveyed countries
Perception of overall TV quality per country rated by respondents in the country
(% Very / fairly good quality)
72%
69%
61%
57%
55%
45%
45%
44%
39%
35%
28%
Populus for the BBC, 14 countries (500 adults per country), Oct 2013
What do you think of the quality of television programmes overall in [INSERT COUNTRY NAME]?
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25%
25%
23%

4. BBC One (UK)
TV Cultura (BR)
BBC Two (UK)
Nederland 1 (NL)
ABC 1 (AU)
MBC 2 (UAE)
Dubai TV (UAE)
CBS (US)
PBS (US)
ITV (UK)
ABC (US)
NBC (US)
Channel 4 (UK)
Das Erste (DE)
ZDF (DE)
Nederland 3 (NL)
SVT1 (SE)
MBC 1 (UAE)
Nederland 2 (NL)
Channel 7 (AU)
RTL4 (NL)
Al Jazeera (UAE)
SVT2 (SE)
Channel 9 (AU)
France 2 (FR)
DR1 (DK)
RTP1 (PT)
Globo (BR)
France 3 (FR)
NHK1 (JP)
SIC (PT)
TV Brasil (BR)
TV4 (SE)
Channel Ten (AU)
Bandeirantes (BR)
La 1 (ES)
La Sexta (ES)
TV2 (DK)
Record (BR)
SBT (BR)
SBS6 (NL)
M6 (FR)
Al Arabiya (UAE)
Antena 3 (ES)
Rai 3 (IT)
Channel 5 (UK)
Cuatro (ES)
TVI (PT)
TF1 (FR)
Canale 5 (IT)
Rai 1 (IT)
Rai 2 (IT)
Kanal 5 (SE)
Vox (DE)
ProSieben (DE)
RTL (DE)
Italia 1 (IT)
SAT 1 (DE)
TV3 (SE)
TV Asahi (JP)
TV Tokyo (JP)
TBS (JP)
NTV (JP)
Rete 4 (IT)
Fuji TV (JP)
Tele Cinco (ES)
Out of 66 channels, BBC One receives the highest quality score of all – with
79% of UK adults rating it as good quality. BBC Two comes in third
Perceptions of TV channel quality rated by respondents in the country
(% Very / fairly good quality)
79%
71%
Populus for the BBC, 14 countries (500 adults per country), Oct 2013
To what extent do you think the quality of programmes on the following television channels in
[INSERT COUNTRY NAME] is good or poor?
Dark blue = Publicly funded channel
Light blue = Commercial channel
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