Corporate watch.(Brief Article)

Jane Parsons assesses the impact of the five top international news and business TV channels

When asked to give my personal view of the five leading international news and business TV channels, I had to admit that I don't regularly view any of them (frankly, I don't know anyone who does). But on a professional level, I do recommend certain of them to a certain type of client and hence could comment on their suitability for reaching that "increasingly elusive, info-overloaded, goldmine" of a target audience: the international business community. But that's not what I'm doing here ... here, I'm a punter.

First, CNNI, the elder statesman of this genre and the only one of the five that I receive in Peckham. I do glance at this one during my intermittent trips abroad. The accusation that it's "too American" is almost defunct apart from the sport. Actually, it's increasingly starting to look and sound like the BBC. The "Top Notch Hotels Where We Can Be Received" listings still annoy and the "coming up next" flashes are curiously amateurish. But they've got rid of much of the screen clutter and, all in all, it's looking good for your clients' money.

On to BBC World -- one of the few ways in which brands can align themselves with the Beeb on TV. Flicking back and forth between this and BBC News 24, I quickly became confused, but World seems to have more gravitas (a carryover from the World Service, perhaps) and is as near to a real competitor to CNNI in the rolling news arena as there is. I'd rather watch this, although trying to spot anyone working in the newsroom behind the presenter can become rather obsessive.

On the "constantly informed" front, the continental Europeans just love their news the way Euronews does it (more a comment on local news output, I imagine). There are no presenters, only voiceovers over footage from a large network of European national news ...