BBC World Service
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The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasters of radio programming, transmitting in 33 languages to many parts of the world. The English service broadcasts 24 hours a day. In May 2006 the BBC reported that the World Service's average weekly audience had reached 163 million people, beating the previous record of 153 million listeners set in 2001.[link] Unlike the BBC's main radio and television services, which are primarily funded by a licence fee which is compulsory for every household in the United Kingdom with a television set, the World Service is funded by the British Government through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.[link]
Mission
According to the World Service, its aim is to "be the world's best-known and most-respected voice in international broadcasting, thereby bringing benefit to Britain".The UK Government spent £225 million on the World Service in 2005. This spending of the British taxpayers' money by the Government was justified by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1985. According to Hansard, the journal of the British Parliament, in an answer to a question in the House of Commons Mrs Thatcher said: "The World Service earns every penny we put into it, by promoting our world-view and policy, It has done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future".[[Citing sources citation needed]]
The BBC is a Crown Corporation of the British Government, but operates independently of the government. There is no direct control of the BBC by the British Government. The World Service does, however, promote the British point of view and foreign policy. Examples of this are the coverage of the Suez Crisis in July 1956, its coverage of the Falklands War from April to June 1982, and its coverage of the handover of Britain's former colony of Hong Kong in 1997.[[Citing sources citation needed]]
The BBC World Service is widely respected in parts of world where the media is not free.[[Citing sources citation needed]] With the BBC’s powerful transmitters broadcasting in the local language, the BBC World Service can be the only source of reliable news not manipulated by the local government. This is the strategy that the BBC adopted successfully, to become a widely respected broadcaster in the Third World and during the Cold War amongst the former countries of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. However, in 2005 the BBC scrapped many of its Eastern European language services, including its hugely popular Polish service, and others in order to enhance funding to its Middle Eastern service, arguing that they were in decline after the end of censorship. An editorial in The Daily Telegraph newspaper said the move reflects the need for the British government to spread its point of view in this region.
More recently the BBC World Service has been accused of giving wide coverage to the viewpoint of the British and United States governments on the invasion of Iraq.[[Citing sources citation needed]] This was in contrast to the BBC’s domestic service broadcasts to British viewers, which were critical of the British invasion of Iraq.
Statistics and languages
The following audience estimates are from research conducted in 2004 by independent market research agencies on behalf of the BBC :- English — 39 million
- Hindi — 16.1 million [News in Hindi from the BBC World Service]
- Urdu — 10.4 million
- Arabic — 12.4 million.
Besides English, the BBC World Service currently broadcasts in Albanian, Arabic, Azeri, Bengali, Burmese, Caribbean English, Cantonese, French, Hausa, [Hindi], Indonesian, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mandarin, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese for Africa and Brazil, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, and Vietnamese.
The German broadcasts were stopped in March 1999 after 60 years, as research showed that the majority of German listeners tuned into the English version. Broadcasts in Dutch, Finnish, French for Europe, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese and Malay were stopped for similar reasons.
On 25 October 2005 it was announced that the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Kazakh, Polish, Slovak, Slovene and Thai language radio services would end by March 2006 in order to finance the launch of an Arabic language TV news channel in 2007.
History
The BBC's first shortwave transmissions were broadcast in 1925 from Borough Hill, Daventry. BBC shortwave programming began as BBC Empire Service on December 19, 1932, broadcasting particularly to Australia.The World Service gained a special position in world broadcasting during the Second World War as it broadcast news to a wide range of audiences. The German Service, created in 1938 and discontinued in 1999, played an important part in the propaganda war against Nazi Germany. The authoritative source on the BBC's German Service is Carl Brinitzer's book "Hier spricht London". Brinitzer, a German lawyer from Hamburg living in exile in London, was a founding member.
After a landmine damaged the service's original home Broadcasting House on December 8 1940, the European Service moved to Bush House; the rest of the Overseas Service followed in 1958. When the BBC's lease on Bush House expires in 2008, the World Service plans to move back into Broadcasting House.
In August 1985, the service went off the air for the first time ever. Workers were striking in protest at the British government's decision to ban a documentary featuring an interview with Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin.
Transmission
News and other programming from the BBC World Service is frequently relayed by local stations around the world, and it is regarded by some as the world's premier radio news source. In addition, the World Service provides educational, drama, and sports programming. A special use of the World Service has been emergency messages to British subjects abroad, such as the order to evacuate Jordan during the Black September incidents of September 1970.The World Service uses a mediumwave transmitter at Orford Ness to provide coverage to Europe, including on the frequency 648 kHz (which can be heard in the south-east of England). Shortwave transmitters are located in the United Kingdom (at Rampisham, Woofferton and Skelton), Antigua, Ascension Island, United States, Singapore, Cyprus, and other locations. In addition, the World Service provides specialist programming to the Caribbean and the Falkland Islands. Since the 1990s the World Service has also increasingly used satellite broadcasting as a means to deliver its signals to its overseas transmitters and to home dish owners in several countries.
According to the BBC, "changing listening habits" led the World Service to end shortwave radio transmission directed to North America and Australasia on July 1 2001.[link],[link] A shortwave listener coalition formed to oppose the change.[link] Currently, both XM Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio rebroadcast the World Service over commercial satellite radio to Canada and the United States,[link] and NPR stations often carry World Service news broadcasts over AM and FM radio. It is possible to receive the Caribbean and Western African shortwave radio broadcasts from eastern North America, but the BBC does not guarantee reception in this area.[link] However, BBC World Service is available as part of the commercial Foxtel Digital Air package on cable and satellite in Australia.
BBC World Service is available as a Free to Air channel on WorldSpace satellite radio.
After the British domestic radio station BBC Radio 4 ceases broadcasting at 1am British time, the World Service is broadcast on all Radio 4 frequencies overnight, including 198 kHz longwave which can be heard in parts of continental Europe.
In 1991 BBC World Service Television launched on satellite, split in 1995 into commercial stations BBC World and BBC Prime.
The World Service's output has recently been made more widely available in the UK — the service is now carried on DAB, Freeview and Sky Digital, as well as being available on 648MW in many parts of the UK. Both a live stream and an archive of previous programmes are available worldwide on the Internet.
In 2005 the BBC World Service commenced regular transmissions via the DRM format to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and adjacent areas on 1296kHz and DRM shortwave frequencies across Europe.[link]
Interval signals
The interval signal of the BBC World Service in English is the Bow Bells, a recording made in 1926. Introduced as a symbol of hope during the Second World War, it is still used preceding many (though not all) English language broadcasts today. Though for a few years in the 1970s, Oranges and Lemons was used as the interval, the Bow Bells were soon reintroduced.January 1941 saw the beginning of the Morse code letter "V" as an interval signal. The interval signal had several variations including timpani, the first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (which coincide with the letter "V"), and electronic tones which are still in use today for some Western European services.
The World Service's classic signature tune Lillibullero is broadcast just before the top of many hours, followed by the Greenwich Time Signal (five short and one long pips) and the hourly news. Modern trailers featuring a variety of international broadcasting centres sometimes replace Lillibullero entirely on themed weeks. Until fairly recently, the hourly sequence was preceded by the announcement "This is London" — it is now followed by a more promotional "Wherever you are, however you listen, this is the BBC" or "With world news every half hour, this is the BBC". In recent months, Lillibulero has been shortened by extra trailers. In other languages, the interval signal is three notes, pitched B-B-C. The exception is the non-English services to Europe, which have an interval signal of four notes, B-B-B-E, in the rhythm of the Morse code letter "V". GMT is announced on the hour on the English service, e. g. "13 hours Greenwich Mean Time" is said at 1300 GMT. 0000 GMT is announced as "midnight Greenwich Mean Time". Sometimes, however, "Greenwich Mean Time" is abbreviated to GMT when the hour is announced.
News
The core feature of much World Service scheduling is the news. This is almost always transmitted at one minute past the hour, where there is a five minute long bulletin, and on the half hour where there is a two minute summary. Sometimes these bulletins are separated from the programmes being transmitted, whilst at other times they are integral to the programme (such as with World Briefing, Newshour or The World Today).Foreign Language Broadcasting
History of BBC World Service Language Broadcasting Services (sorted by Language)
| Language | Start Date | Stop Date | Restart Date |
| Arabic | 1936 | - | - |
| Chinese-Cantonese | 1968 (not verified) | - | - |
| Chinese-Mandarin | 1968 (not verified) | - | - |
| Czech | 1942 (see Slovak) | 25 March 2005 | - |
| Danish | 1942 | 4 March 1961 | - |
| Dutch | 1942 | 4 March 1961 | - |
| English | 25 December 1936 | - | - |
| English (Caribbean) | 25 December 1976 | - | - |
| Finnish | December 1942 | 29 January 1955 | - |
| French | 25 December 1940 | - | - |
| German | 1939 | 25 March 1999 | - |
| [Hindi Langauage] | 11 May 1940 | - | - |
| Hungarian | January 1941 | 25 March 2005 | - |
| Japanese | 1948 | 25 March 1992 | - |
| Italian | January 1941 | 4 March 1961 | - |
| Malay | 1956 (Malaya Crisis) | 4 March 1980 | - |
| Norwegian | 1941 | 4 March 1961 | - |
| Polish | January 1941 | 25 November 2005 | - |
| Portuguese-Brasil | 6 July 1941 | 25 March 1991 | 2004 |
| Russian | January 1941 | - | - |
| Slovak | January 1941 | 25 March 1991 | - |
| Spanish | 6 July 1936 | - | - |
| Swedish | 1941 | 4 March 1961 | - |
| Thai | 1941 | 1 January 2006 (not verified) | - |
| Ukrainian | September 1952 | - | - |
| Vietnamese | 6 January 1952 | - | - |
| Welsh (to Patagonia) | 1946 | 1947 (1946 exclusive?) | - |
Sources
- History of International Broadcasting (IEEE), Volume I. (James Woods, BSEE)
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/languages/
| 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 1996 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States of America | 497 | 1495 | 1907 | 1901 | 2611 | 1821 |
| Chinese People's Republic | 66 | 687 | 1267 | 1350 | 1515 | 1620 |
| United Kìngdom (BBC) | 643 | 589 | 723 | 719 | 796 | 1036 |
| Russia | 533 | 1015 | 1908 | 2094 | 1876 | 726 |
| German Federal Republic | 0 | 315 | 779 | 804 | GDR abolished | |
| Egypt | 0 | 301 | 540 | 546 | 605 | 604 |
| Iran | 12 | 24 | 155 | 175 | 400 | 575 |
| India | 116 | 157 | 271 | 389 | 456 | 500 |
| Japan | 0 | 203 | 259 | 259 | 343 | 468 |
| France | 198 | 326 | 200 | 125 | 379 | 459 |
| Netherlands | 127 | 178 | 335 | 289 | 323 | 392 |
| Israel | 0 | 91 | 158 | 210 | 253 | 365 |
| Turkey | 40 | 77 | 88 | 199 | 322 | 364 |
| North Korea | 0 | 159 | 330 | 597 | 534 | 364 |
| Bulgaria | 30 | 117 | 164 | 236 | 320 | 338 |
| Australia | 181 | 257 | 350 | 333 | 330 | 307 |
| Albania | 26 | 63 | 487 | 560 | 451 | 303 |
| Romania | 30 | 159 | 185 | 198 | 199 | 298 |
| Spain | 68 | 202 | 251 | 239 | 403 | 270 |
| PortugaI | 46 | 133 | 295 | 214 | 203 | 226 |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 320 | 424 | 352 | 203 |
| Italy | 170 | 205 | 165 | 169 | 181 | 203 |
| Canada | 85 | 80 | 98 | 134 | 195 | 175 |
| Poland | 131 | 232 | 334 | 337 | 292 | 171 |
| South Africa | 0 | 63 | 150 | 183 | 156 | 159 |
| Sweden | 28 | 114 | 140 | 155 | 167 | 149 |
| Hungay | 16 | 120 | 105 | 127 | 102 | 144 |
| Czech Republic | 119 | 196 | 202 | 255 | 131 | 131 |
| Nigeria | 0 | 0 | 62 | 170 | 120 | 127 |
| Yugoslavia | 80 | 70 | 76 | 72 | 96 | 68 |
Notes
- USA includes VOA (992 hours per week), RFE/RL (667 hpw), Radio Marti (162 hpw) – 1996 figures.
- Since the break-up of the former USSR in 1991, only Russia's output is shown.
- 1996 figure for Czech Republic (created 1.1.1993), previous years for former Czechoslovakia.
- At the time of going to press, South Africa's external service's future is in doubt, and Nigeria's external service is off air.
- The list includes about a quarter of the world's external broadcasters whose output is both publicly funded and worldwide. Among those excluded are Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea and various international commercial and religious stations.
- 1996 figures as at June; all other years as at December.
Source: International Broadcast Audience Research, June 1996.
References
External links
- [BBC World Service website]
- [BBC World Service - Languages]
- [BBC World Service - Live streaming and programme archive]
| BBC Radio stations |
|---|
| FM/AM: Radio 1 | Radio 2 | Radio 3 | Radio 4 | Radio Five Live |
| Digital: 6 Music | BBC 7 | 1Xtra | Five Live Sports Extra | Asian Network |
| Nations: Radio Scotland | Radio nan Gaidheal | Radio Wales | Radio Cymru | Radio Ulster | Radio Foyle |
| English Regions: BBC Local Radio |
| International: BBC World Service |
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