BBC World Service

BBC World Service
The World's Radio Station
Radio station ( public service )
reception	FM , DAB , DVB-T , via satellite, as an Internet live stream
Reception area	world
Broadcaster	BBC
Program director	Jamie Angus
Start of transmission	December 19, 1932
Program type	International broadcasting
List of radio stations
Website

The BBC World Service is the international service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). World Service radio programs are broadcast worldwide in 27 languages. Week after week, over 180 million listeners tune in to the programs of the BBC World Service . The station has been directed by Jamie Angus since 2018 .

Bush House, the administration building and studios of the BBC World Service until 2012

history

The first shortwave broadcast was broadcast from Daventry in 1925 . The shortwave program has been broadcast regularly under the name BBC Empire Service since December 19, 1932, especially for Australian listeners. At the time of the Munich Agreement in 1938, the BBC's German-language program began with a translated speech by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain .

The station held a special position , especially during the Second World War , when it broadcast news in various languages ​​for a broad target group. During this time, the BBC's German-language service was a reliable and reputable source of information. All content was under the motto: “Never tell a lie.” (Stay with the truth). The modern BBC's charter is just as strict; Sewa Novgorodzew , moderator from 1977 to 2015, who was said to be partly responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union, said in 2015: “If you put up a fight and you reference the BBC Charter, you will win”. The German-language programs were discontinued on March 26, 1999, amid great protests from listeners.

After an air mine on December 8, 1940 damaged the London Broadcasting House , the original location of the station, the BBC European Service moved to the Bush House . The BBC Overseas Service followed in 1958. As part of the BBC's comprehensive modernization program, the editorial offices have now gradually moved back to the Broadcasting House , the BBC headquarters on Portland Place in central London's Marylebone district.

The first broadcast of the World Service from the new broadcasting house, a program of the Burmese service with audience participation, in which Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi participated as a guest, was produced on March 11, 2012. The last news broadcast from Bush House was after nearly 70 years on July 12, 2012 at 12 noon local time (11 a.m. GMT), the newscaster was Iain Purdon. The BBC's lease with the owner expired in November 2012.

In contrast to the BBC's normal radio and television programming for Great Britain , which is mainly financed by license fees , the BBC World Service was previously operated by the British Foreign Office. In 2010 it was announced that the BBC World Service will also be funded from general fee revenues from 2014 onwards. This is also intended to increase credibility so as not to create the impression that the BBC is speaking on behalf of the British government. It is still unclear whether this will reduce the importance of the service or whether it will increase within the BBC.

News and journalistic quality

The BBC World Service has been one of, if not the most reliable and respected news source in the world since WWII. In autocratic countries in particular, the BBC World Service is an independent and largely objective source of information.

The station also offers a wide range of educational, entertainment and sports programs. One example is World: Have Your Say , which won the Sony Radio Academy Awards in 2008. A special service for Britons living abroad are security warnings, which include evacuation recommendations. Such recommendations were made, among other things, in September 1970 when a travel recommendation for the Jordanian territory was given during Black September .

Historical broadcasting stations

BBC relay station in Nakhon Sawan , Thailand (2009)

FM transmitter in Europe
Aussig	Czech Republic	105.8 MHz
Berlin	Germany00	94.8 MHz
Brno	Czech Republic	101.3 MHz
Ceske Budejovice	Czech Republic	89.6 MHz
Iglau	Czech Republic	96.7 MHz
Moravian Ostrava00	Czech Republic	106.4 MHz
Olomouc	Czech Republic	105.6 MHz
Pilsen	Czech Republic	98.6 MHz
Prague	Czech Republic	101.1 MHz
Pristina	Kosovo	98.6 MHz
Riga	Latvia	100.5 MHz
Tirana	Albania	103.9 MHz
Vilnius	Lithuania	95.5 MHz
Zlín	Czech Republic	93.9 MHz

The BBC World Service could be received in Europe until the end of March 2011 via a medium wave transmitter on the frequency 648 kHz, which was located in Orford Ness . In addition to the shortwave transmission systems in Great Britain itself, there are numerous relay stations . These are broadcasting systems at locations outside the UK that broadcast the BBC's program in order to ensure good reception quality in other regions of the world. The private company Merlin Communications operates shortwave transmitters for the BBC not only in Great Britain, but also on the Ascension Islands, Antigua , Cyprus , Oman , Singapore , Thailand and the Seychelles . These are also marketed elsewhere. In addition to programs from the BBC, they also broadcast programs from other international broadcasters. In addition, transmitters are used in Germany , Russia , the USA , Austria , South Africa , the United Arab Emirates , Japan , South Korea , Uzbekistan and Canada . In return, transmission systems in Great Britain are also leased to other international broadcasters such as Radio Canada International , Voice of America , Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty , Radio Japan , Radio Korea International , Voice of Vietnam and Radio HCJB from Ecuador .

Furthermore, the World Service offers or offered special programs for the Caribbean and the Falkland Islands . The Falkland Islands program ended in March 2006. Furthermore, since the 1990s the World Service has increasingly used satellite radio as a means of transmission to its overseas stations and to the satellite dish owners in many countries. Shortwave transmissions in the US ended on July 1, 2001.

Theme melody

The pause sign used by the BBC World Service in English-speaking countries is the sound of the bells in St Mary-le-Bow Church in London .

The signature tune Lilliburlero is usually broadcast shortly before every full hour, after the announcement This is London (German: Here is London ). The tune is followed by the Greenwich time signal (five short and one long beeps), followed by the news.

In non-English-speaking countries, the pause signal is four notes long, the pitches are HHHC (BBBC in Anglo-Saxon notation). In addition, the will in all programs regularly Westminster chimes of Big Ben played.

languages

BBC World Service at Broadcasting House, London since 2012.

The BBC's World Service broadcasts in more languages ​​than any other broadcaster in the world. Editorial offices also produce BBC programs in languages ​​that are underrepresented in international media.

The BBC World Service broadcasts radio programs of various lengths in the following languages: English , Afaan Oromo , Amharic , Arabic , Azerbaijani , Bengali , Burmese , Chinese (Mandarin) , Gujarati , Hausa , Hindi , Igbo , Indonesian , Kazakh , Kinyarwanda , Kirundi , Korean , Marathi , Nepali , Pashtun , Persian (Dari), Persian (Farsi), Pidgin , Portuguese , Punjabi , Romanian , Russian , Serbian , Sinhala , Somali , Spanish , Swahili , Tajik , Tamil , Telugu , Thai , Tigrinya , Turkish , Ukrainian , Urdu , Uzbek , Vietnamese , Yoruba .

In early 2011 it was announced that the language services in Macedonian, Albanian and Serbian, as well as regular broadcasts for the Caribbean and Portuguese for Africa, would be discontinued. In the course of austerity measures, a total of 650 employees (a quarter of employees) are to be cut, two thirds of them in 2011.

After a decision to increase state funding was decided in 2016, BBC World Service launched the West African pidgin language service in August 2017 . Another 12 language services followed in 2017 for West Africa and the Middle and Far East.

Distribution channels

World Service radio is broadcast in Europe and North America using regional VHF transmitters, program transfers and live streams. In addition, all programs are also available online as podcasts as well as an audio and text archive. Shortwave broadcasts are used to cover specific regions of the world.

In the 2000s, the BBC decided to discontinue its shortwave broadcasts for North America, Europe and other parts of the Global North , as these could be achieved entirely with re-broadcasting on FM and live streams. Other international channels like u. a. DW and Radio Australia adopted this model. The BBC continues to broadcast the World Service and language programs for the countries of Africa and parts of Asia on shortwave.

The television program BBC World Service Television was first broadcast via satellite in 1991. In 1995 it was split into two different programs, BBC Prime which is now the pay-TV channel BBC Entertainment and BBC World which now broadcasts worldwide as BBC World News . BBC World News is the only BBC TV program to broadcast advertising around the clock. The distribution of BBC World Service has also expanded in the UK. It can be received via DAB (digital radio), DVB-T ( called Freeview in the UK ) and via satellite .

advertising

The BBC Trust first approved the introduction of advertising on the British international service BBC World Service in January 2012. Affected are the websites in Arabic, Russian and Spanish, as well as the program broadcast on the FM frequency in Berlin. The tax-funded international broadcaster's budget was cut by £ 46 million a year in 2011. As a result, over 600 jobs had to be cut. The British government had asked the broadcaster to generate income of £ 3 million annually "from commercial activities" through 2013/14.

literature

• Gordon Johnston, Emma Robertson: BBC World Service overseas broadcasting, 1932-2018 . Palgrave Macmillan, London 2019, ISBN 978-1-137-31855-8 .

Web links

• BBC World Service

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Kate Chisholm: Radio — New world order ( Memento of March 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) . In: The Spectator . 2012, Retrieved April 21, 2012 from HighBeam Research.
2. ↑ Jamie Angus appointed Director of the BBC World Service Group , on bbc.co.uk, accessed April 15, 2020
3. ^ Sylvia Prahl: New audio books on anti-Nazi stations. Never tell a lie. In: Taz online . February 1, 2007.
4. ↑ BBC Russian's Seva Novgorodsev: my method was compassion. In: Cambridge Globalist . March 16, 2015 (English).
5. ↑ Andy Senitt: BBCWS makes first broadcast from new home ( Memento of 25 October 2012 at the Internet Archive ) . In: Media Network. March 11, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
6. ↑ BBC World Service signs off from Bush House. In: bbc.co.uk . July 12, 2012, accessed on July 16, 2012 (video recording of the last broadcast, English).
7. ^ Foreign and Commonwealth Office: BBC World Service . October 22, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2012 (UK Department of Foreign Affairs notice).
8. ↑ Our values, your propaganda "Since the beginning of the year, the World Service has not been financed by the British Foreign Office for the first time. This is supposed to make the BBC more credible.
9. ^ Alasdair Palmer: Take an ax to the BBC, but save the World Service . September 11, 2010, ISSN  0307-1235 ( telegraph.co.uk [accessed July 29, 2019]).
10. ↑ BBC FM Stations Around the World. Retrieved January 22, 2018 . 
11. ↑ Andy Sennitt: BBC officially announces closure of 648 kHz ( Memento of February 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) . In: Media Network. February 12, 2011 (English). Retrieved June 8, 2011.
12. ↑ Lilliburlero signature tune after the spoken "This is London" , recording in .wav format.
13. ↑ Andy Sennitt: Media Network Rotating Header Image BBCWS to lose 650 jobs, five language services. (No longer available online.) RNW Media Network, Jan 25, 2011, archived from the original on Jan 29, 2011 ; accessed on January 26, 2011 (English). 
14. ↑ BBC starts Pidgin digital service for West Africa audiences. BBC, August 21, 2017, accessed November 17, 2017 . 
15. ↑ BBC - BBC World Service begins language expansion - Media Center. Retrieved July 30, 2019 . 
16. ↑ Does Shortwave Have a Future? February 20, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019 (American English). 
17. ^ Mark Sweney: BBC World Service to run ads on some websites and radio stations . In: The Guadian. January 5, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2012.