June 1 (Bloomberg) -- The British Broadcasting Corp., the world's oldest public broadcaster, started a $1 million outdoor advertising campaign in New York to promote its new 24-hour news channel in the U.S.

The four-week campaign for BBC World News, designed by Omnicom Inc.'s BBDO ad agency, includes a Times Square billboard asking passersby to text message their opinions on a topic, starting today with immigration. The London-based BBC wants to lure U.S. viewers seeking an alternative to CNN and Fox News.

``The Americans want to understand and hear about the big issues that affect them,'' BBC World News Editor Jeremy Hillman said today at a press conference in New York. ``It's about global news that's relevant to the U.S.''

The BBC is entering a crowded field led by News Corp.'s Fox News, which overtook Time Warner Inc.'s CNN as the most-watched news network in 2002 and averages 1.49 million viewers in prime time. U.S. broadcast networks including CBS Corp. are struggling to maintain the audiences for their half-hour nightly newscasts as viewers turn to the Web and cable TV.

The 24-hour BBC World News channel, which started at the end of April, can be seen only by subscribers of Cablevision Systems Corp., which has 3.1 million customers around New York City.

BBC World, the BBC's commercial TV unit, is in talks with other U.S. cable companies, including No. 1 Comcast Corp. and No. 2 Time Warner, to carry the channel. The 83-year-old, state- funded BBC is also working with Discovery Communications Inc. for U.S. distribution.

``We're working on national distribution, it will take a little while,'' Hillman said, declining to be more specific.

Billboard Poll

The channel will add, starting July 3, an hour-long news program at 7 a.m. New York time, anchored by the BBC's George Alagiah, to attract viewers before their workday.

The billboard on 50th Street and Broadway will change its topic and photograph every week, said Jerome Marucci and Ari Weiss, the BBDO creative directors who crafted the campaign. This week's question asks people to text message whether immigrants are ``citizens'' or ``criminals.'' The results of the poll are posted live on the sign.

The next topics will be Iraq, the bird flu and China.

BBDO chose an outdoor ad campaign because of the BBC's limited budget of less than $1 million, Marucci said.

The campaign also includes posters in trains, such as the Metro North, to target commuters on their way to Long Island and Connecticut, where Cablevision has subscribers.

BBC World faces ``significant uncertainties'' over whether it can become profitable, a consultant's report for the U.K. government said in April.

The study was part of the government's decision on the BBC's future funding. The BBC gets about 3 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) a year and has requested an increase of 2.3 percent above the inflation rate for the next seven years.

BBC World reported an operating loss of 15.7 million pounds for the 12 months ended in March, the report said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cecile Daurat in New York at cdaurat@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 1, 2006 14:41 EDT