BBC Arabic TV is an essential move for the BBC as a global broadcaster, says Jerry Timmins, Head of Africa and Middle East Region BBC World Service, and it’s what the audience has been asking for
For BBC World Service, adding television to BBC Arabic’s existing radio and online offer is much more than simply launching a new TV channel.
It is the latest and most significant step towards a future in which the distinctions between radio, online and television are increasingly blurred.
It will position BBC Arabic as the only international broadcaster with a coherent multi-media presence in the region and will ensure that the BBC can provide a seamless news and information service by whatever delivery method the audience chooses.
“BBC Arabic TV will be the natural extension of the content offered to the Middle East by the existing Arabic service,” says Hosam El Sokkari, Head of BBC Arabic.
“It is what our audiences have been asking for over the past decade. By adding TV to the range of services that we have, BBC Arabic will be a truly tri-media offer, providing content to our audiences in a wide range of formats.”
Implications far beyond the Middle East
With mobile phone penetration already high in the Middle East and the prospect of ever more exciting mobile distribution ahead, this is a crucial step to safeguard the BBC’s position in the region.
But the implications reach far beyond the Middle East. It is an essential move for the BBC as a global broadcaster. The BBC’s new willingness to invest in multi-lingual TV, streamed video and video on demand will enhance the organisation’s ability to operate as a highly competitive content provider globally, using the delivery methods favoured by our audiences as they adopt new technology.
These are vital elements for any broadcaster committed to covering news in the modern world. On their own they are not enough, but without them we would be severely weakened.
The BBC is well positioned to make this move, given its existing experience and capacity for delivering news both in the UK and globally.
The BBC already has over 250 correspondents around the world in 50 bureaux; beyond this it has newsgathering and programme-making capacity in more than 30 languages. It provides news to over a dozen national radio and TV channels in the UK as well as its international TV and radio services.
It is acknowledged as one of the world’s best online content providers.
Our audiences are changing
In the Middle East, the BBC has built its reputation through radio. Originally these were short wave services in Arabic but increasingly broadcasts are available via FM across the region.
For more than 60 years, it has developed a reputation as the most trusted international broadcaster in the region. Today, it has an Arabic audience of 12 million weekly listeners. Its award-winning online service, bbcarabic.com now attracts up to 14 million page impressions a month.
This year the online service will be enhanced with video, ahead of the launch of the TV service.
“While the existing services are successful, our audiences are changing and a significant number of people who are enthusiastic followers of news now only get their news from television,” says Alan Booth, Controller, Marketing Communications and Audiences, BBC World Service. “So for the BBC to reach them, this latest announcement is a vital step.”
We believe that, with our reputation for providing impartial and accurate information, we will become essential viewing for those who want to understand what is really happening in the world today.
Key research
In two sets of research carried out in seven countries over the past three years, 80–90% of respondents said they would be “very likely” or “fairly likely” to watch a BBC television news service in Arabic.
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