BBC to start Arabic TV program

[Harold F. Schiffman]

 The BBC World Service is to launch an Arabic television news channel in
2007, the corporation has confirmed.

The channel will initially broadcast 12 hours a day and will be the BBC's
first publicly funded global TV service. It is part of a 30m restructuring
of the World Service and is being funded by the closure of 10 foreign
language services - with the loss of 218 jobs. The NUJ and Bectu unions
have condemned news of the closures and job losses as a "bitter" and
"devastating" blow. The World Service provides news in English and 42
other languages and is funded by a Foreign Office grant. The 2005/2006
grant is 239m and the Arabic service is expected to cost 19m a year in
operating costs.

The World Service said broadcasts in Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Greek,
Hungarian, Kazakh, Polish, Slovak, Slovene and Thai languages would end by
March 2006. BBC World Service Director Nigel Chapman said many of those
services resulted from the Second World War. "It is acknowledged that
their presence has contributed to the building of freedoms now enjoyed by
their citizens. We believe this will be a lasting legacy."

But he said many national and local services "which subscribe to similar
values as the BBC" had since been started in Europe. Broadcasting union
Bectu said: "While we would normally welcome the BBC's expansion into
Arabic TV without hesitation, we cannot ignore the potential threat of
hundreds of compulsory redundancies." It said the decision to move funding
from European services to Arabic TV appeared to be political, warning:
"The decision will create a perception abroad that the BBC World Service
is working to a government agenda."

But Mr Chapman denied this, saying: "We have no political motive. Our job
is to be a broadcaster." Ahead of the confirmation of job losses, National
Union of Journalists (NUJ) general secretary Jeremy Dear also condemned
the cuts. "It would be a bitter blow to BBC World Service staff and a step
which has the potential to cause massive damage to Britain's influence in
a significant part of New Europe," he said.

'Strong demand'

Meanwhile, Mr Chapman said research had shown there was a strong demand
for an Arabic TV service in the Middle East. "BBC World Service is already
the most successful, trusted and respected voice in the Middle East with
more than 60 years experience of broadcasting in the Arabic language on
radio, and more recently and successfully, online," he said. "The changes
add up to the biggest transformation of BBC World Service that has been
undertaken - and one of the most far-reaching - since the BBC began
international broadcasting more than 70 years ago."

It is estimated that 148 jobs will be created by the new Arabic channel.
Overall, 236 positions will be closed as a result of overall restructuring
and 201 will be created through new investment.

Arabic competition

The changes to the service follow the government's review of the BBC's
Charter in March 2004. "We believe the proposed changes will enable BBC
World Service to maintain and build on its pre-eminent position as the
world's leading international broadcaster in the multi-media age for years
to come," Nigel Chapman said. The World Service has 149 million weekly
listeners and over 20 million monthly unique online users.

The BBC has previously entered the Arabic television market, in
conjunction with the Saudi-owned company Orbit, but it foundered in 1996
following issues of editorial control. That same year al-Jazeera launched,
based in Qatar, and recruited a number of former BBC Arabic staff members.
Al-Jazeera is launching a new 24-hour English-language channel -
al-Jazeera International - next spring.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4374130.stm

Published: 2005/10/25 16:47:07 GMT